Page-Turner
by The 21st Century Pendragon
Summary: Lincoln confessed something that he should not have confessed, as if the title didn't give it away. How will everyone react, especially his supportive sisters? Originally called "Lincoln vs. Dating".
1. Chapter 1: The Confession

Lincoln and the gang just got off from a live screening of _Paranormal Activity_ at their school. It was a crowded school fair where the students and their peers watch from a large LED screen on the school's football field. It was a fundraiser event as it was claimed, which is a win-win for the gang.

After that, they stop by at Gus' Games-N-Grub to chill for the entire night with a vegetarian pizza, garlic bread sticks and orange soda.

Liam then shares his thoughts about the movie, "Man, that was not the scariest thing I've seen."

"Well, that's perhaps the best of the _Paranormal Activity_ movies," Clyde remarks.

"Why? Seen something scarier than a girl possessed?" Zack asks.

"Trust me, dude. Where I come from, the townsfolk fear the fields, for they said that is where their ancestors bury innocent witches. And they told me that time may come where they will come to bury them alive," Liam shares with a frightening tone.

"Really, eyy?" Rusty brags, "Last summer, we went back to my dad's place at the Rockies. Beside his house was an ancestral house where there once lived a damsel who waited for her husband to return. But he didn't. Me and my cousins snuck to that house. And we saw the very sight of the veil of the damsel floating on air. But worst, she snuck behind us!"

The boys get shivers in their spine from hearing Rusty's story. Clyde remarks this himself, "Man, that sounds really creepy. Imagine if it's really her corpse that snuck behind you."

"It was," Rusty clarifies, which only makes it spine-tingling.

"Okay, now I can't sleep for the night," a frightened Clyde says.

With the discussion turning into a scare debate, Zack decides to share his own story, "Well guys, I bet you haven't heard about this series I saw."

"What?" the boys take interest.

"It was one of the few things that my parents had in their bookshelf. It was this mad scientist…or was it a doctor who invites people to take a vacation to his paradise resort. And there was mad stuff going on. Behind the scenes, the scientist was scheming to use tourists and turn them into animals. And boy, just transforming people into animals is already frightening."

Though the boys feel the horror from Zack's story, they cannot help but feel familiar of the story.

"Wait, was that _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ you are talking about?" Clyde asks.

"I guess so," Zack answers inexactly.

"Why would your parents let you read a book like that?" Liam asks.

"It was a picture book," Zack clarifies to them, which only makes them shudder.

"Wait, _Dr. Moreau_ has a picture book?" Rusty wonders, making the boys quiver more.

"I don't want to know, or even read it," Clyde says.

But Lincoln lightens up, "Well, at least we have _Animorphs_. It's a safer one."

"You've got a point there, buddy," Clyde acknowledges.

"How about you, Lincoln?" Rusty asks, "What's the scariest thing you've seen so far?"

"You mean scarier than the _Thresher_ and…last trick-or-treating…" It suddenly occurred for Lincoln the recent time he went trick-or-treating with Clyde from the episode, "Tricked". "I'll just leave that for my year-ender special." He then recalls another recent scary occurrence, "I have a confession to you, guys. I watched _It_."

"Wait, what 'It'?" Rusty asks.

"You mean the movie?" Liam follows.

"Mhmm," Lincoln answers.

"The dancing clown _It_? Where the kids get haunted by their worst fears?" Clyde elaborates.

"That one," Lincoln confirms.

Rather than be baffled, the boys are amazed at this.

"Really? What's the scariest part?" Rusty asks out of sheer curiosity.

"Nahh, I don't wanna spoil anything," Lincoln brags. "Better see it for yourself."

"Wait, how were you able to see it?" Liam asks.

"That's for you to figure that out." (In reality, Lincoln redoes his scheme from the episode "The Price of Admission"; this time, he convinces his parents to let him watch _My Little Pony: The Movie_ , only to sneak with his sisters on watching _It_. They helped.)

"But nothing will beat the book," Clyde remarks.

"You actually read the book?" Rusty asks.

"Yes, but I only stopped at page 32," Clyde clarifies.

"Why didn't you finish?" Liam asks.

"Well, I was gonna borrow it, but the librarian told me about what it really contains," Clyde tells, "She don't want me to know. And I guess I know what it has."

"What does it have?" Rusty asks.

"You don't want to know," Clyde implies. Not wanting to dwell too much on _It_ , he takes his turn on telling a scary story, "Well, why don't we move on to my story? Well, it sounds like an urban legend, but it was a true account. There was this couple who are so in love with each other that everybody feels their romance. It was great for them, dates in the fair, on the harbor and under the sun. That is until the mother of the boy disapproves of his love with the girl. So, they broke up. The girl would not accept it. She loved the boy so much that she did everything she can to win the guy over. But none. She ended up depressed. One night came that the boy didn't see coming. The girl messaged the boy. He never read it until the next morning. But the message contains a picture of the girl sitting by the edge of a balcony. That is when the boy actually found out the next morning that the girl desperate for him ended up on the ground."

The boys shudder even more from Clyde's story.

"Man, I don't want to remember that on my sleep," Liam reacts.

"That's really frightening, when you think about it," Rusty adds, "A girl who really wants you just died thinking of you."

"Too off, dude. If I have a girlfriend like that, I would try not to break her heart that much," Zack comments.

"Me either," Liam agrees. "Like that lasted long."

"Yeah, if I had a girlfriend…" Lincoln softly implies.

"What are you talking about Lincoln? I thought you and Ronnie Anne are still a thing?" Rusty asks.

"Well, we're still friends. But come on, we're kids. We still have stuff we want to do," Lincoln explains, but goes on to confuse the boys, "I mean it's not that any moment I'll be falling…too much, or I mean falling for stupid stuff that couples do. I mean us being us, it was good. But I think it was good for us to be friends. There are green pastures out there. So, this might be a page-turner, like not sticking to page…"

And just by the pattern of his words, something clicks on Clyde. "Wait, what do you mean 'page-turner' and 'not sticking to page'?" he interrupts.

"What?!" Lincoln replies nervously. "I mean _It_ was a page-turner. Yeah, I said it. Someone made a scary book and a scary movie. It made me not want to turn a page. Yeah!" It is obvious that Lincoln is hiding something from the boys.

"You never talked about _It_ a while ago," Rusty implies.

"Just tell us Lincoln," Liam insists. "What's up with you and Ronnie Anne now?"

Ultimately, as he reaches the brink of his profuse sweat, Lincoln confesses, "Okay, Ronnie Anne and I are friends. Not a couple. Just friends. But as guilty as it may seem, I have another girl that I have a crush on. You may have guessed it."

"What? Who?" Zack asks.

"Was it Paige?" Clyde confronts him.

"I will just show the picture from my phone. But guys, please let's keep this between the five of us. I don't want Lori or any of my sisters to find out," Lincoln pleads.

"Why would your sisters mind?" Rusty asks.

"Because Lori's in a relationship with Ronnie Anne's brother, and his sisters support for Lincoln x Ronnie Anne," Clyde explains.

"Yep, that was a thing," Lincoln utters to the boys while facing the readers. He then opens his phone to show a picture of him and Paige during class. (Lincoln took a selfie, while Paige looked at his direction and waved at the phone.)

Upon seeing this, the boys of course hoot in amazement that Lincoln is able to score another girl.

"Woah buddy! When was this?" Clyde asks.

"Homeroom," Lincoln says. "Ms. Johnson assigned me to volunteer for the school's haunted house at the gym. Then, there she was."

"Way to score there, buddy!" Liam teases.

"Guys, we're not a thing," Lincoln insists, "She's…special. But please, not a word to anyone."

"Don't worry Lincoln. We won't," Clyde promises, and so as the rest.

 _But as history would say, secrets will surely spread like wildfire. Where this will go?_


	2. Chapter 2: The Discovery

After such an outrageous night, the next day comes normal as usual. Autumn arrives like a soothing breeze. Leaves scatter around the Royal Woods vicinity. And most are preparing for the upcoming Halloween celebrations, or just excited for the next Halloween movie to come out.

But the Lincoln gang just cannot get enough from Lincoln's confession last tonight. They even take this topic during reading class.

"Alright class, let us all turn to page 143," Ms. Johnson instructs the class. But Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zack cannot stop giggling from the teasing and the unintentional wording from their teacher.

"Guys, be cool," Lincoln whispers to them insistently.

"Okay boys, what's with the laughing? Did we miss something from your chats?" Ms. Johnson derisively asks.

"Nothing, Ms. J," Rusty replies, "I think Lincoln would love to read that 'page' of the book."

"Rusty!" Lincoln scolds at him.

But whether or not is this teasing, Ms. Johnson finds this amusing. "Really? Alright, Lincoln, step forward and read our poem of the day."

Hearing this, Lincoln proceeds nervously with a gulp on his throat.

"Just be cool, buddy," Clyde whisperingly advises him.

"I am trying," Lincoln replies from the teasing from the boys. As he steps to the front, the 11-year-old flips his book to that page to see this age-old poem:

 _The rose is red, the violet's blue,_

 _The honey's sweet, and so are you._

 _Thou are my love and I am thine;_

 _I drew thee to my Valentine:_

 _The lot was cast and then I drew,_

 _And Fortune said it shou'd be you._

However, the 11-year-old gets baffled at himself for reading a timely poem. He expresses his thoughts to the readers, "Why does this part have to be so timely? This already a tired story cliché."

Throughout reading that poem, the whole class notices Lincoln's face getting redder, realizing that he feels touched by the love poem. This prompts for the boys (except a little bit from Clyde) to snigger at him, followed by his class.

"I think Lincoln has his cheeks redder like a rose!" one classmate teases him, making him try to cover up his blooming redness.

"It's a love poem! What do you expect?!" Lincoln defends himself.

But thankfully, Ms. Johnson takes over the situation. "Okay class, we had our share of laughs. Let's not take this out of context." She then tells Lincoln, "Thank you Lincoln for reading that page for us."

As Lincoln goes back to his seat, the boys continue to chuckle at him, "Yeah…page…contrived…"

* * *

Later, during lunchtime, the boys continue to laugh over that simple incident. It is a good relief that Lincoln has grown patience over their antics.

"Hey guys, do you know who my favorite wrestler is?" Rusty asks them a joke, "Paige!" With that, he, Liam and Zack laugh over it, while Clyde let out a little chuckle.

Then, Liam doubles it down with the joking, "Yeah, too bad. If she's in a supermarket, and somebody's looking for her, they might say, 'Paging for Paige'." The boys laugh a little bit more, if not too much.

Finally, Zack contributes to the jokes, "Well, she could have used her 'page' to do all the shopping for him." And at the final blow, the boys holler loud that even Clyde cannot hold his breath from laughing.

It is then that Lincoln cannot hold his patience from his pals nearly exposing the name of his new crush. With that, Lincoln holds his breath to rid the anger and pleads to them, "Guys, please! I told you so!"

"Sorry Lincoln, we can't help with you in this page-turner," Rusty says, trying to hold back his laughing.

Clyde, however, notices Lincoln's compunction of his confession. "Guys, Lincoln's serious. We have to lay low. His secret is on us. So, he's counting on us." He then apologizes to Lincoln, "We're sorry, buddy. We promise we'll stay cool from now on."

Lincoln is happy at that statement.

But Zack is having trouble figuring out Lincoln's sudden switch. "But I don't get it, Lincoln. You said you like Ronnie Anne last time, even though she moved out of Royal Woods."

"She is. I still like her. I mean we're still friends," Lincoln explains.

"But what made you switch to Paige? And what is with Paige that you liked her now?" Rusty asks validly.

"It was…a long story," Lincoln replies hesitantly. "But…she was…a good friend."

But Clyde is able to support him, "We met her in Gus' Games and Grub. She tried out Dance Dance Battle, and boy, she was good! And right up, ladies' man Lincoln here challenged her, and boom! She clicked."

But Lincoln interrupts him, not wanting anymore awkwardness, "Okay, thanks there, buddy. That's too much already what they need to know."

"That's it? I thought there would be some of your moves. You know, how did you show interest in her? Or did you ever ask her out? Or talk to her?" Liam nitpicks.

"Or if you took her for a walk in the park and maybe have cotton candy and get yourselves cavities…" Rusty assumes, though the others are stumped by his choice of words. "What? It could be…"

"I just like her. That's it!" Lincoln clarifies, "Just a normal, simple crush. It's not that Paige could be anything to me other than a friend."

Suddenly, someone overhears their talk from behind. It is Girl Jordan. "Wait, Lincoln, do you like Girl Jordan?"

"No!" Lincoln denies, "I mean she is a good friend. But that doesn't mean I 'like' her that way. You know?" That is the way he tries his best to hide his admiration for Paige.

No wonder Girl Jordan is not that convinced. "Well, soothe yourself. But I have to remind that we have a haunted house to work on. And no, I don't you can use your time to talk to her." But she tones it down, "Well, depends on Coach Pakowski."

Just having been reminded of that, Lincoln remembers, "Dang it!"

"Wait, Coach Pakowski is heading this year's haunted house?" Liam asks. "Boy, he picked me to help the school attraction. Can't wait! This sure will be fun."

* * *

But Liam's expectations are downright the opposite when later, he and Lincoln assemble with the rest of the students in charge of the school's haunted attraction and watch Coach Pakowski rant.

"Darn City District thinking they will be good at their zombie apocalypse marathon!" the coach berates about their rival school for the Halloween attraction, "No way are we losing to them!"

"Why does it matter? I mean there's no contest…" a bespectacled boy asks.

"It's a matter of excellence! Don't you want to make Royal Woods Elementary proud?!" Coach Pakowski chides the boy. "This is it, people! We can't waste any moment! We must create the scariest thing ever that even Blumhouse can't even make into a movie. Let's move!"

With that, everybody disperses and goes to his or her designated areas. All the while, Lincoln spots Paige from a distance inspecting a wooden platform to be used for the haunted attraction. Instantly, with this gaze, the boy feels butterflies on his stomach. Heavenly tunes are in his mind when he sees her pale orange hair, her sharp lashes and her shimmering smile.

"Awww…" he sighs, feeling the cuddles of puppy love.

Awkwardly, Liam ruins the scene. "Man Lincoln, rarely do I see Coach Pakowski that angry. Guessing he didn't have a good lunch."

"Ohhh, right. Right right," Lincoln stutters.

Then Liam realizes where his true attention is on. "Oh, still thinking about Ms. Paige? I'll say that she sure looks so 'charmed'. My dad used to say those jokes."

But Liam is right about Lincoln not paying attention to him as he remains at gaze towards Paige.

"Well, if you feel like it, why don't you talk to her?" he suggests. "Have you talked to her? I mean after you met her?"

"Nahhh…there was lunch…once…"

"Oh boy, that sure is a girl you really like."

"Quit it, Liam. I can get through with any other girl, well, except those you sent me. And Ms. DiMartino. And besides, Paige is a good friend. And I don't want to say my feelings and ruin it for her. There are some things you just can't ruin."

"Like what?" somebody utters to him from out of nowhere, which is obviously Lucy.

"AHHH!" the boys scream.

"Lucy, can you stop appearing out of nowhere?! It's already gotten under my skin," Lincoln begs.

"Why don't you tell that to great-great-grandfather Stoker?" Lucy sardonically utters.

"What are you even doing here?"

"Of course, it's a school Halloween attraction. And we are in charge of preparations and logistics. Me and Haiku are." She then points towards her goth acquaintance Haiku from "Dance, Dance Resolution".

"Oh. Hi Haiku," Lincoln nervously greets her.

"I can sense the tremors inside your heart, Lincoln," she monotonously utters. "Every beat is a representation of a reach to the apex of your soul. Could be the passionate effect of…"

However, Lincoln tries to sway away from compromising his secret. "That's good hand-reading, Haiku! Thank you! But me and Liam have to go, help stuff on that side. Okay?" And with that, Lincoln drags Liam to the area where Paige is.

"I am sensing something different about your brother," Haiku shares.

"He is always excited. A kind of extremity for reading too much comics and a watching too many zombie shows," Lucy explains.

"Indeed, how drastic his heart will grow weary. A joy shining like gold will go eerie," Haiku adds.

"I agree," Lucy replies, "But let's proceed inspecting the homemade costumes."

What the siblings don't know is that Lynn is also helping out in preparing for the school's haunted house attraction, mostly on carpentry.

"Man, who needs a nail gun when you got these guns!" the athletic junkie brags as she spits a nail to a wood and hammers it faster. Thanks to this skill, and with help from her roller derby team, she is able to construct a framework of a house. "That's how to do it! Glad Coach Pakowski placed me here. Chemistry's boring."

* * *

Speaking of chemistry, Lynn spots Lincoln from a distance; he is approaching to a girl with pale orange hair. Not wanting to assume things, Lynn gets a closer look, and she cannot believe what she sees: Lincoln actually talking to another girl privately. Well, it is indeed reasonable for her to think since she still thinks that her brother and Ronnie Anne are a couple.

"Lincoln, what are you doing?"

Thus, such sights like the two giggling and joking at each other are disgusting for her. She even sees the two of them whispering.

"No, it's not true, that's impossible!" she mutters. And with this disbelief, Lynn lets go of her hammer, dropping to her foot.

"AHHHHHHH!"


	3. Chapter 3: The Growth

After a hammer stubs her foot, Lynn goes straight to the clinic and places an icepack on it. It is so reliving, but not reliving her shocking discovery that she saw Lincoln with a girl that she never knows. It is kind of coincidental that the song "Somebody That I Used to Know" by Gotye ft. Kimbra is playing in the clinic. Lynn shudders, just thinking about it.

"You okay Loud?" the nurse asks.

"It's just…something…unacceptable…" Lynn stutters.

"Ahh, what the heck? Not to worry. Your foot will go well," the nurse assures, "It's not that grave of an injury."

"It's not that," Lynn says. "Nurse, not to be sentimental or anything, whatever the heck is sentimental, is there anything bad you have seen that you refuse to see as real?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I just saw something…unacceptable! Unacceptable by any realities."

"Well, you just have to accept it. That's reality, whether you like it or not. Well, we'll wrap you with gauze, and you're good." Then, the nurse walks back to her desk, leaving Lynn contemplating at her discovery.

"I do believe that one day that the Cubs will win the World Series. And they did! I just couldn't believe this!" Lynn mutters to herself.

Lucy then appears from out of nowhere, scaring Lynn, of course. "You tell me."

"Lucy! I had enough trauma for the entire day!" Lynn berates.

"I definitely can sense that," Lucy says, "There are worse things that I feel from the séances."

"You gotta help me! I can't accept that is real what I have seen!"

Lucy seems to understand to what Lynn has been through. With that, she empathizes with her, "I know what you feel. Haiku told me that Lincoln has been seeing another girl, other than Ronnie Anne."

"No way!"

"It is hard to accept. I have known many stories of unfaithfulness in gothic fiction. I never knew it would happen in real life."

"Yeah, I see." But Lynn finds one fact very baffling. "Wait, how come you know about unfaithfulness?"

"Uhhhhhh…sigh."

Lynn digresses, "Never mind. We need to get to the bottom of this! We need to show Lincoln he's wrong! He's stabbing Ronnie Anne in the back!"

"How are we gonna do that?"

"We need help. We need a sister meeting! But first, we need to confront him."

* * *

Upon agreement, Lynn and Lucy plan to hold a secret sister meeting to talk about this issue.

As the day ends, Lincoln meets up with Clyde and Rusty outside.

"So, how is our ladies' man doing?" Clyde asks suavely.

"Yeah, you ladies' man?" Rusty follows, "You should have your own catchphrase. 'Hey lady!'"

"Okay guys, just chill," Lincoln insists.

"Come on Lincoln, tell us. How are you doing with turning to 'page 143'?" Clyde teases.

"It's just fine. Just fine," Lincoln answers modestly.

"Just fine?" Clyde asserts, "Come on, give us details. Did you share something to her? Or did she share something to you? Or was there a moment?"

"No guys, there's no moment. We're just being friends," Lincoln defends.

But the two boys are not buying Lincoln's claim.

"Man, that's one stage of denial. I can tell from last time," Rusty says.

Nevertheless, they board the school bus on the way home. While Rusty and Clyde sit on the second row on their right, Lincoln sits by the window seat on the second to the last row on the right.

Clearly, as they peek towards their friend, Rusty assumes that he leaving a seat on Lincoln's left is for someone special. "Dude, Lincoln is really serious about being close with Paige."

"I get that, Rusty. But I don't think Lincoln would ever just leave a girl for another girl," Clyde retorts, "Though I beg to differ at that time with Lena. But I digress."

"Could he really be this serious? I just feel there's something close to them."

"Just chill, man. I know Lincoln more than you can imagine. I will talk to him about that, and let's not just just jump to conclusions that the empty seat is really for Paige."

The bus starts to move. And true enough on Clyde, somebody else occupies the empty seat next to Lincoln, with Lincoln not minding about it.

But moving to the boy himself, Lincoln actually wants to distance himself from Clyde and Rusty as he is about to send a message to Paige. He opens his Messenger app to see that Paige actually waved at him.

Butterflies come to his stomach. It is just a sweet, friendly gesture to do. With that, at a click on his screen, he quickly waves her back. He cannot wait for what Paige is going to reply. Though, two minutes go by, and the message is labeled as "seen".

For others, this is an assumption that the receiver either read the message and has no intention of replying back or just ignored the message. So, with little hope, he types " _Hey there…_ " and sends it to Paige. He is not expecting her to reply, but it comes to his surprise when he sees Paige typing a message at her end.

She replies, " _Hey_ ".

Just at that simple reply, the butterflies become a swarm in Lincoln's youthful stomach. Sweat drips from his forehead. And just the anticipation of a girl who likes him and is replying to his message grows in him.

Out of breath, Lincoln tries to find a way to continue the conversation. So, he quickly types, not wanting to lose her, " _I heard that was you who made that 'Day of the Dead' posters. Kind of cool for the school's haunted house._ "

After sending the message, the 11-year-old closes his phone, not wanting to spoil himself from waiting on Paige's reply. He waits on and on, as the anticipation crawls on his skin, like waiting for the pizza to be dropped on his doorstep or standing by for commercials to get finished, just to wait for _The Dream Boat_.

His excitement can rest as Paige replies with this: " _Oh, I thought you knew it before. Could have shared that earlier. But oh well. Actually got that idea when me and my family went to Mexico for vacation last year. We went for the Day of the Dead celebrations. And it was fun. And a lot of spooky things that look cool. Reminds me of an arcade game. So, I suggest that as our gig for the school's Halloween. Some liked it. Well, it's either this or doing It. But coach hates clowns. So, there._ "

She then follows it up with a less long message: " _We loved the idea. It's a blast. Glad Jordan had spare Day of the Dead trinkets at her house we can use. There's a lot of Book of Life and Coco stuff we can think about. Hopefully we can get all the help we have."_

Lincoln can almost feel the same excitement that Paige has. He then messages her: " _I think I may have. Well, other than my sister Lucy. She's also organizing the haunted attraction._ "

" _That's cool_ ," Paige replies.

" _She is. I think she may bring her coffin collection at school_ ," Lincoln messages, " _But I just know a friend who may have a lot of Dia de los Muertos stuff._ "

" _Great! Alright, counting on you, Link!_ " Paige replies, " _Have to go. Gonna do the dishes. See you tomorrow, arcade buddy."_ With that, she goes offline, in time that the bus stops at Lincoln's block.

"Arcade buddy…" he utters out of pleasantness. He utters again, "Arcade buddy…" imagining if Paige were to say those words to him personally. With a sigh, Lincoln cannot help but feel the closeness of them as friends. He does not mind if his inner prepubescent feelings alienate him from succumbing to reality. He just knows that his emotions feel right to him. It is just another way of defining "infatuation" or confusing "friendship" with "romance".

Still with hearts on his eyes and mind, Lincoln enters his house, only to see Lynn and Lucy waiting for him.

"Hello Lincoln, how's today in school?" Lynn confronts him in a sarcastic tone.

"Hey Lucy! Hey Lynn, kind of weird for you to ask how my day is…" Lincoln replies.

She then nudges his shoulder and comforts him like a big, bully sister, "Nope, just wanted to make sure. That everything's cool. And nobody has given you wedgies or bare knuckles, except me." Lynn then punches Lincoln's arm.

"Awww!" Lincoln comforts his arm. "Nothing. It's just school…and there's the school Halloween attraction."

"We know. I was there. I saw you…" Lucy states.

"Yes, I know that," Lincoln replies.

"And I was there! Being a good help!" Lynn vents, "And there came a scary thing!"

Lincoln feels that Lynn is cornering him on his secret liaison. So, he does not make that fact obvious. Thus, he points out, "Your foot?"

"Yes, my foot. The hammer hammered it down!" Lynn grumbles, "But that's not the only thing scary I see!"

"Well, if it's a ghost, good for you," Lincoln slyly replies, "But would you excuse me? I need to take care of matters for the Halloween attraction."

"Uhmm, Lincoln, you do know that you just passed by the organizer of the Halloween attraction, right?" Lucy affirms.

"I know…but you're not the only person who can give out ideas," Lincoln defends, "Let me share you later." After that, Lincoln climbs to his room and switches on his laptop for his school work.

However, it is a failure for Lynn and Lucy to actually corner their brother about his suspected unfaithfulness.

"This is not good!" Lynn tells her sister, "He has his mind occupied by…a mind occupier."

Not minding Lynn's stupid retort, Lucy suggests, "Should we call it…?"

"Yes! Secret sisters meeting!"

To be continued...

* * *

 _Non-sequitur note (temporarily): I do not wish to end this fanfic in our sour note. But I want to sure that after one week contemplating, I still cannot believe the case behind creator Chris Savino. It is a true shocker after praising his animated creation. I hope he finds time to reflect on his actions. The best thing to do is to not fight with fire, but forgive him from even the worst mistakes. Hate the sin, love the sinner._

 _As for the action, this has to be fought seriously in the industry._


	4. Chapter 4: The Unveiling

As planned, Lynn initiates a sisters-only meeting that night. So, every Loud sister gathers to Lori and Leni's room. While the other sisters are having friendly chats to each other, Lynn bursts through the door, with Lucy behind her, carrying some cardboards and an easel.

"Thank you everyone for gathering today!" she declares toughly, "I'm sure you all know why I gathered you all here today."

"Yeah, no kidding," Luna reacts sarcastically, "You sent us invites to our calendar." She then shows the invite that Lynn sent, which said: "URGENT: Sisters meeting tonite! Go or everyone's getting dodgeballs. No jokes." "What's the deal, dude?"

"Okay, that maybe harsh, but nothing as harsh as this news," Lynn insists.

Then Lana inadvertently reacts, "Woah, you mean there's a harsher news than Lola losing her pageant for passing gas?"

Just the mention of that news instantly triggers Lola to raise her anger and grab her twin sister with her fist. "What did I tell you about telling stuff YOU SHOULDN'T TELL?!"

"What? It is fine. Everybody has their 'moments'," Lana replies.

With that, Lola beats up Lana incessantly to shreds.

Gladly, the fight cloud moves away from the other sisters, and Lori comes to stop them. "Just cut to the chase, Lynn," she insists.

Lynn then proudly proceeds, "Okay, you guys wouldn't believe what I see with my very own eyes. It was just horrifying. It's scary. I can't accept it. But it did." Everyone is at the edge of her own seat, as Lynn completely unveils the revelation that, "Lincoln is cheating on Ronnie Anne!"

Because of that, the sisters are at shock.

"Okay, that's harsher news than me passing gas," Lola comments.

But Lori is the most in denial, "No way! Literally no way! Lincoln would never do that! I already warned him!"

"Yeah!" Leni follows up, "Lincoln would never do that. How could he? Ronnie Anne is far away, so how could he cheat on her?"

"No, Leni. Not that cheating, like cheating on a test," Luna corrects her, "She meant cheating…on love."

Leni then understands the situation. "Ohhh, now I get it. But that's just bad! How could he cheat on her?"

Luna can just only frown at her.

"Oh oh no, you wouldn't believe how I know," Lynn sneers, "I was there at the gym, helping out with hammering stuff for the Halloween hall. I was a good help as I get to use these guns…"

Lola then interrupts her, "Okay, can we skip your ego-tripping and get to the point?!"

"Okay! This is how I see it. Lucy!"

At Lynn's call, Lucy flips the blank cardboard to an artist's sketch of Lincoln's alleged infidelity. "There. The treachery that our brother has done. It is truly painful," the 8-year-old goth utters.

Even with the preparation of a sketch, the sisters have trouble believing Lynn and Lucy's claim. But most of it comes from the ludicrous-looking sketch, which looks like a drawing from a toddler. The sketch is actually done by Lynn herself.

"So, it is a one-haired stickman interacting with an orange-haired stickman wearing a kilt?" Lisa interprets.

"No! It's Lincoln cheating with another girl!" Lynn reiterates.

"But how did you draw to that conclusion?" Luan asks jokingly. "Hehehe! Get it?"

"I hardly think this is credible evidence," Lisa claims. "And you just waste A3 cardboard charts for that."

"Yeah, I'm with her," Lana agrees.

"But I swear guys, I saw Lincoln with another girl!" Lynn attests.

Lori then comes up with a resolution, "Okay look, okay, maybe Lincoln might be cheating or what. But, I will stick to my guts that he is not. I'll handle Lincoln, while you look for solid proof that proves that our little brother is cheating."

"But there it is. Here's my proof!" Lynn defends her horrible drawing.

"Yeah, I don't think a drawing like this works," Luna responds.

"Sheesh, Leni can draw better than this!" Lola berates.

"I do? Wait, I'm a painter now?" a dumbfounded Leni reacts, to which Lola slaps her face.

Just like that, the meeting ends, which is kind of a failure for Lynn, who aimed to convince everyone that Lincoln is allegedly cheating. "This is not good."

"Let Lori take the fall, once she discovers how cruel the truth is," Lucy replies. "But I pity Lincoln. Sigh, he fell hard to the trap of blind romance."

"You're right," Lynn replies. "But we failed to convince Lincoln. But we can stop that girl. That sneaky one. We have to stop her!"

"Okay, how do we find her?"

"Well, our school is not that big of deal. And as you know, I have a sharp memory that is sharp as a sharpener. So I can track down that girl in a snap."

"That sounds more of a precaution than anything else."

"Oh, what do you know?!"

"I know somebody who might just help."

* * *

The next morning, at school before classes, Lucy and Lynn obtain help from Haiku on their situation.

"So, you need help in finding a person you can't track?" Haiku asks.

Lynn replies, "Yes, and we really need your help with your uhmmm…what's it called, Lucy?"

Lucy then finishes her point, "You have tried telepathy before, right?"

"Yes, I have received the gift of psychokinesis on an immersion camp last summer. It was tragic but bittersweet," Haiku explains.

"So, you can…read other people's minds with that skill?" Lynn asks.

"Let me demonstrate it to you." Haiku then brings Lynn to a nearby seat and faces her it in front of her. "Take a seat."

"Uhhh…okay." Lynn hesitantly sits down as Haiku prepares herself for the quote-unquote telepathic ritual.

"Now, please sit down and relax," Haiku insists.

"Is this gonna hurt?"

"It is a pathway to read the mind. It will not harm a fly." Haiku then uncovers her left eye being covered by her hair, as she focuses towards Lynn's eyes. "Now, just think of a certain memory. That I might see your thoughts." It all comes down with Haiku staring towards Lynn.

Lynn finds this troubling, making her sway her head. "Uhmmm, is this a stare contest or something?"

But Haiku never pipes an answer.

"Oookay…well. Let's do it. Let's stare this away!" Motivated, Lynn directs her eyes towards Haiku's. At first glance, it may seem easy. But minutes go by, and the athletically excited girl finds the goth's eyes gradually frightening. Her fears start to fill her mind. Her body trembles haughtily. And her face gyrates, feeling the fears taking possession of her body. She is now out of control "AHHHHHH! What's…going…on?! AHHHH!"

For such a frightening experience, Lucy and Haiku just watch Lynn overreact from having her mind reading.

"Is this…normal for her?" Haiku asks.

"Nothing is normal about us," Lucy replies as Lynn continues to act crazy as if she is constipated.

"I feel…A…MONSTER!" she screeches.

Lucy then effectively slaps her face to snap back. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, but you just slapped me?!" Lynn berates.

Lucy slaps her again.

"Okay, it's better now."

"That's not what happens when someone reads your mind."

"That's what I feel!"

Out of nowhere, Haiku begins to interpret her findings about Lynn's memory. "I see one particular image. I knew I sensed this before. A deception of any kind. But a disgraceful find."

"Who do you see?" Lynn asks.

"Lincoln…and a familiar face."

In unison, Lynn and Lucy asks, "Who?"

With that, Haiku takes a copy of the school paper and browses through the contents, until she stops at the feature news section. There, she scans through the articles written by young, talented writers. She stops at an article with the title, "Gamers Club Organized Fund-Raising". She spots the photo next to it, which features the club members in a photo opp. Finally, she shows the article to Lucy and Lynn and points to the image of a girl with orange hair, yellow top and blue jeans.

"That's her!" Lynn verifies.

"Her name is Paige," Haiku reveals with a sullen tone on her voice. "She's an active one. Kind of gentle."

"So, we must force her to back away from Lincoln, once and for all!" Lynn replies with conviction.

"And exactly how are we going to do that?" Lucy asks.

"I don't know. I don't even have a plan at all!" Lynn replies with conviction.

Demeaned by her stupidity, Lucy utters to the readers, "Sigh, why even bother to count on Lynn?"


	5. Chapter 5: The Nearness

Even after Halloween, the school's haunted attraction, which is a Day of the Dead-themed scare fest, still runs until Saturday. The attraction goes in the same format as a conventional haunted house, with a narrative being inspired by _Pan's Labyrinth_ , _Legends of the Hidden Temple_ and _The Book of Life_ , where the guests have to succeed in getting out of trap-infested haunted maze from killer skeletons who will trap them to their realm. In the end is a golden-lit hall, similar to the end of _Pan's Labyrinth_ , where the kids announce the guest's victory.

Mr. and Mrs. Loud decide to try the escapade, in support of their son. After enduring a lot of scares, they stumble upon a fork on the road (or on their path).

"Okay, now what?" Lynn Sr. asks to his wife with disinterest.

"What? Why are you still giving me that face?" she asks back.

"You're the Halloween master here. Where do we go?"

"First of all, I just helped out Lucy. Second, can't you just be proud for once that our son is in this."

"I am. But why does it have to be Halloween?"

"Come on. It ain't that bad."

The two then proceed to the path going to the right, which is preferable for them. Just as they move away from the diverging roads, the path closes from behind, leaving Lynn Sr. and Rita trapped on the path.

"Okay, this is no joke. Let us out!" Lynn Sr. insists.

"Honey, just calm down. It's all part of the program," Rita pleads.

"O how would you know about that?"

Rita grunts at his reply.

Suddenly, two spotlights project towards a wall at the end of the path. Fog then starts to appear from behind and gather on their feet.

Rita is kind of impressed but nervous, but Lynn Sr. feels himself unsettled by the aura that is being presented.

"Uhmm hello?" Lynn Sr. utters.

The lights start to flash to a strobing effect. Both parents get kind of nerved with the lighting effects. Then, it comes to a stop with an explosion, and suddenly, three beings appear from the smoke: a weird man wearing a pumpkin-themed suit with two guys in skeleton suits on each of his side.

"You have go to be kidding me," Lynn Sr. remarks.

"How's it hanging?" the weird man jollily asks. "I'm David Pumpkins!"

Instead of being amused, Lynn Sr. is aggravated at the presence of a now Halloween icon. "Not you again, you unfunny, un-scary pumpkin-loving bastard!"

"Okay sweetie, don't pick on Mr. Pumpkins here," Rita pleads. "Remember what happened last '13"

"This ain't '13!" Lynn Sr. whines.

The jolly, weird man repeats, "I'm David S. Pumpkins, man!"

"I know who you are! Just what do you want?!" Lynn scolds at him.

"To do this!"

At his word, the right skeleton begins to dance to groovy music. Pumpkins then points to the left skeleton, who also dances to the music. As it goes to him, Pumpkins just wails his arms like crazy. And to the fourth beat, the three weird beings dance till the music stops. Then, Mr. Pumpkins utters his favorite words, "Any questions?"

Needless to say, Lynn Sr. is not impressed.

Rita sees this and calms him down, "Alright sweetie, we can just move on from here…"

But Lynn Sr. gets on with the gimmick, just to mock him. "Well, I do. I do have a question. How are these all meant to be scary?!"

With a frightening glee, David S. Pumpkins replies, "By doing this!"

Just like that, several flesh-mongering skeletons appear behind them and start to grab them by the shoulder. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" the Louds scream in horror, while David Pumpkins and his skeleton dance to the groovy music being played. Typical.

* * *

As for Lincoln, he is assigned as an usher on the exit after being designated as one of the killer skeletons. He is just satisfied that the week turned out well for him.

Right at that moment, Clyde walks up to him. "Hey Link! Your parents are inside!"

"Really?" Lincoln replies.

"Yeah, we scared them. It was kind of awesome. They got trapped in one path, then we cornered them!" Clyde narrates excitedly, "You should have seen the look on their faces! Not that they're trapped or anything. They're fine. They're just having a blast."

"I sure hope so," Lincoln reassures, "Dad is not much of a Halloween fan. But I hope he is good."

Exactly at that moment, Lynn Sr. and Rita try to find a way out of the flesh-hungry skeletons. "Yeah right, we're really good right here!" he acerbically implies.

Well, their trek does not end there, but it sure would not last the whole night.

The entire night goes by, and the attraction is a success for the school. When it closes, the entire crew gathers to the middle. And Coach Pakowski pulls up a Fanta bottle to celebrate.

"Alright fellas, the haunted house is a success!" the coach declares, letting out a cheer from the students. "Well, not technically a haunted house. But I received a report that for our Day of the Dead maze, we earned approximately $8,000. And guess what? We earn the highest in this district!"

With that good news, the student crew hollers in celebration. To top it off, the coach bursts the Fanta open like champagne. It is victory for all.

But that is not where Lincoln's attention is. Obviously, his attention is on one Paige, who waves her hair like crazy. Lincoln cannot help but feel smitten by her. And just feeling the butterflies in his stomach, he knows he has to make a move to please Paige.

Thus, after the celebrations, Lincoln decides to make a move, but nervously thinks of ways that his moves do not look like forced. As he spots her, he bravely waits her by the door and pretends to coincidentally bump into her. Though, there's a side note: her father is with her.

So, his encounter should be casual and not obvious. He gives a cool stance by the door, but as she passes by, Paige does not notice her. He tries to give it another shot by pretending to text. She, along with her father, happens to pass by that direction. And Lincoln calls to her, "Paige! Paige!" But she does not hear her. Truly, it is because Lincoln's voice tone is soft. That is another moment blown off.

Clyde and Liam run into Lincoln.

"Lincoln! Were where you? We thought you we're gonna bring home Lucy's candlestick collection," Clyde says to him. He then sees Paige about to go home with her dad, making him realize what Lincoln is about to do. "Link, I know you like her. But you have to realize the choice you're making."

"Relax Clyde, it is not the end of the world. It's not like I want to ask Paige out on a date. It's not that. I just want to be friends with her," Lincoln assures, "What's so wrong about that?"

"Yeah, Lincoln's right," Liam agrees. "Why should a wish for friendship do such harm?"

After that, Liam and Clyde walk to their respective homes, while Lincoln goes to his parents, as they take him home. Though that seems smooth sailing, it is not for one disgruntled sister who blackmails the whole proceedings.

"This should do the trick!" Lynn grins evilly as she saves the recording to her cloud.

* * *

Back at home, Lincoln immediately rushes to the front door. "Thanks mom and dad for the ride! Really appreciated it!"

"Son, what's so in a hurry?" Lynn Sr. asks.

Lincoln replies hurriedly, "Have errands to do. Anyway, love you guys for coming to school! See you at dinner!" Then, he dashes to the house.

"Lincoln!" Rita calls to him. "Boy, our son is really up to something with that hurry."

"I'll say," Lynn Sr. responds, "As long as it is not about Halloween, I'm good."

Rita then frowns at him.

Back on Lincoln, he races to his room to reach out to Paige again. But at the height of his anticipation, Lori comes by at his direction.

"Hey Lincoln!" Lori greets him.

Seeing her, Lincoln halts from rushing. "Oh Lori. Hey! What's up?"

"Nothing literally," she answers. "But I'm glad you're here. I need you now."

"Now? Right now?"

"Yes. Now. Any problem?"

"Sorry, but I have something to do…"

"This won't take long. I just need help in moving the leftover candy to Vanzilla."

Without any choice, Lincoln goes on with Lori's favor.


	6. Chapter 6: The Confrontation

While that is going on, Lynn rushes home in her bike. She hurriedly snoops to the staircase and sends a text message to all her sisters to meet for one "emergency meeting".

Since it is nearly late at night, 10:43 PM to be exact, the sisters are either snoozing or streaming to their favorite music. But Lynn's constant text nagging disturb them.

As per practice, the girls gather to Lori's room for the meeting. And it seems everyone feels bushed from the day. But that does not stop Lynn for running the meeting.

"Good, good. Thank you all for coming to this meeting," Lynn brags.

"This better be good!" Lola scolds, "You ruined my beauty sleep!"

"Sheesh, does beauty sleep include snoring?" Lana mocks her, which Lola takes a bite at.

But Lynn takes the proceedings. "Not to worry, because I just discovered the worst thing in Lincoln's school!"

"Wait, what are you doing in Lincoln's school?" Luna asks.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be at school this time?" Leni follows naively.

"Uhmm Leni, I think you are asking it the wrong way," Lana clarifies to her.

"This is about Lincoln's issue, isn't it?" Lucy asks. "Let me guess, you discovered proof about Lincoln cheating on another girl, don't you?"

"Righty on!" Lynn replies. "Wait, how do you know?"

"I was there?" Lucy answers, "Can't you remember? I left earlier, but I saw you stayed for long."

Having thought about it, Lynn decides to discard that matter and have their attention to the video she took. "Ohhhh…enough about that. How about this?" In her grin, Lynn shows them the video from her phone, down to the part where Clyde inexplicably revealed of Lincoln's liking to Paige. One can imagine the astounded reaction from the Loud sisters. But one thing is clear: it is not positive.

* * *

Back to Lincoln and Lori, she asks for assistance to carry four boxes of leftover Halloween candy to Vanzilla.

"Man, I never realized we have these lots of candies," Lincoln expresses.

"Just get used to it," Lori says, "Mom literally says that it's good that we didn't overeat the ten boxes of candy. You know her."

Lincoln then evaluates, "Wait, I know we set eight for Halloween. The two is extra. We finished two boxes. We had four here. So, what happened to the…?"

Lori then points to one corner in the kitchen, where the rest of the boxes are placed and empty.

"Wait, you guys ate all the candy?"

"We didn't. We literally left you in the fridge."

Lincoln afterwards check the fridge for any sign of candy, only to see a plate with only a peppermint on it. "Just a peppermint? Really Lori? You guys left me a piece of rock candy that I'm allergic to?!"

"No, I literally left you chocolate bars, jellybeans and gummi fruits. Though I think Leni might have snuck to the fridge to give treats to Charles."

"Wait, she fed Charles with chocolate bars? And candy?!"

"Relax, we told her not to. But she threw them all to the curb, thinking they were poisonous."

Just because of that pitiful excuse, Lincoln groans in dismay. "Auuggghhhh!"

Lori tries to calm him, "Lincoln…Lincoln!"

But he continues to groan.

Ultimately, Lori gives him an offer. "Fine! Alright, help me out here and I will treat you for pizza."

"What? For real?"

Grudgingly, the older sister succumbs, "Yes, Lincoln. Just help me get these candy to mom's foundation. And we can drop by for pizza."

Even with that sumptuous offer, Lincoln is having hesitance trusting her, shown by his puzzled eyes.

"Come on. This is literally a one-time offer."

Nevertheless, Lincoln accepts it.

* * *

For the remainder of the night, Lincoln helps Lori deliver the boxes of candy to their mom's foundation, who are still operating beyond office hours until 11 PM to accommodate upcoming deliveries and donors from other people. After that, the two stop by at Gus' Games N' Grub for a midnight snack of tropical pizza (of course, without the pineapples), iced tea and garlic bread sticks. Lori has only a slice and sparsely eats the pizza, while Lincoln has the rest of the course.

"Want some more?" Lincoln, with his mouth full, offers Lori with another slice.

"No thanks," Lori replies, "I literally cool with just a slice."

"Okay, soothe yourself." Lincoln then continue munching down his meal.

Having him distracted and rewarded with a scrumptious pizza meal, Lori opens up to him, "So, Lincoln…how was your Halloween…ride or whatever..."

"You become interested on my school's Halloween attraction all a sudden," Lincoln wonders.

But Lori stresses, just to give out a half-baked excuse, "Oh nothing, just maybe what if that haunted house or whatever is literally scarier than the maze we did." She snickers in the end.

"You haven't been there?"

"Nope. So tell me."

"Well yeah, our maze is cool. But this one is also cool. It's all about Dia de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead in Mexico. You know? We created these cool sets, Mexico-inspired. It was like a fiesta in Jean Juans, only in the afterlife with skeletons and…"

But Lori stops him from there, "Okay good. So, did you enjoy it?"

Lincoln seems to raise suspicions on Lori's questioning. "Well…yeah, I did."

"I mean really enjoy? Like literally any takeaway?"

"Lori, I can't be that naïve that you're trying to interrogate me."

Finally, Lori snaps out and gets to the main point, "Alright fine, did any snooping?"

"What? Why would you think I'm snooping? And what would I be snooping at?"

"Oh…I don't know. To a particular…friend?"

"Lori, I was with Clyde, Liam and Rusty the whole time for the Halloween attraction the whole time. And of course, Lucy."

"And…?"

"And what?"

"And…?"

"Well yeah, my whole class. What is there to know? What is there for you to know?!"

Wanting answers, just to test his trust, Lori glares at Lincoln's eyes sharply. Lincoln notices this as well and tries to hold back that he is fine, and that he never has a fault to show to Lori. Lori deepens her glare, while Lincoln stays still, with sweat profusely running on his skin. It is a test of trust between brother and sister. And just with a sharp glare, Lori says, "Good."

With that, Lincoln feels the relief and wipes of his sweat. "Phew, I thought I was in trouble or something."

"You're not," Lori calmly says, "I just thought to test your trust."

"Uhhh what? What for?"

"I need a trust buddy for my trip to Action Park."

"Wait, Action Park, isn't that the coolest water/extreme sports/amusement park in the planet? Awesome!"

"Calm down there, Lincoln."

But Lincoln cannot stop from screaming in exhilaration. Though he has one thing to ask, "Wait, why would you want to bring me to Action Park?"

"Bobby is a lifeguard on duty there. So, for his raise on his job, he thought to give us free passes. We plan to take whitewater kayaking. But since he is still on duty, I thought I could bring you and Ronnie Anne."

"Wait? Ronnie Anne?!"

"Yes, Ronnie Anne. Do you have a problem with that?"

"What, with Ronnie Anne? No? What's wrong with Ronnie Anne?"

"There is; it is that she's your girlfriend, and you wouldn't even care less?!"

"Ronnie Anne is not my girlfriend! We're just really close friends."

"Pipe it. She's your girlfriend, and you would care for her! Or it is to the Death Pool for you!"

Seeing his sister at the brink of scolding, Lincoln assures her, "Alright! Alright! Sheesh, I'll be with you in Action Park." Lori glares at him to admit another point. "And will be with Ronnie Anne."

"Good."

"Would you excuse me? I'll be on the men's room." Lincoln then walks slyly to the bathroom, just as an excuse to call up to Clyde for this kind of emergency.

While that is going on, Lori thinks to herself about Lincoln, " _I don't know who you are seeing with Lincoln. Just hope that you don't dash everything away. I'll be watching you._ "

One thing is for sure: things will not go good from here.


	7. Chapter 7: The Entrapment

On emergency mode, Lincoln calls up Clyde. "Clyde, are you there?!"

Thankfully, as a reliable best friend, Clyde answers immediately, " _Lincoln, what's the hold up?_ "

"Clyde, I think Lori might be unto me," Lincoln shares to him.

" _L…Lori?!_ " With just the mention of her name, Clyde nearly splurges blood from his nose. But he is able to stop it with inserting tissues on his nostrils. " _How would you know Lincoln?_ "

"I don't know. Lori almost lured me to revealing. She took me for a treat for pizza, and she is like interrogating me. You know girls: they can be very sneaky. And they can read thoughts through just slightest hint of action."

" _Wow Lincoln, you really have your knowledge with girls, huh?_ "

"Well, living with ten indestructible female siblings, it takes a lot of experience."

" _Well, that and other girls in class, or around school._ "

"Yeah…But back on point, what do I have to do?"

" _Okay pal, just relax now, you know that you just have feelings with Paige. But, as Dr. Lopez would always tell, feelings are temporary. They would just go away without any of us noticing. So, best to stay cool._ "

"Okay, that does seem the default thing to do. But what if she ever asks about Ronnie Anne? Lori or any of my sisters are expecting for a development from our relationship!"

" _Wow. That seems huge in retrospect. Just say to them that you guys are still talking to each other. You guys are still talking to each other right?_ " As Clyde says that, Lincoln inadvertently leaves him hanging and tries to retrace where his relationship with Ronnie Anne went. Last time he checked, Ronnie Anne pranked him with a package, and he still recalls the feeling he received on that moment. It is sort of longing for a beloved friend, but it does not compensate into something romantic. Thus, it is safe to say that Lincoln and Ronnie Anne are just long-distance friends. " _Lincoln! Still there?_ "

"Oh, sorry Clyde. Just thinking…about that."

" _Okay, I get your point. But I think we know for sure that both of you are still good._ "

"We are," Lincoln clarifies to his best friend, though with a dry throat.

" _Well, I believe you, buddy. What we can do is just stay cool and perhaps talk about other stuff._ "

"I sure hope so. Lori's bringing me with her to Action Park."

" _Action Park?! You mean the coolest, most extreme theme park in the whole wide world?!_ "

"Yes, that's it. That's where it gets bad." With a sigh, Lincoln reveals, "She's bringing Ronnie Anne too."

" _Well, that's great. At least she's still buying that you're good with Ronnie Anne. And you can conceal your feelings about Paige._ _How is that bad?_ "

"Let me tell you tomorrow at school. I have a sister to handle for now."

"Okay good." But before the call ends, Clyde brings this up, " _By the way, Lincoln, I was at the game a while ago, and I heard this from the chat forums that some players accuse you of being a cheater._ "

"What?! Did they somehow find out that we got our cheats from the Comic Book Guy?"

" _I don't know. Their claims are kind of bogus anyway. But there's this one online player who said he spotted you with user MsCharmed on 'Dance Dance Battle', and that you took her out. I don't know if this is true. But best if you don't mind them._ " Lincoln then twitched upon hearing Clyde claim that. " _Wait, wasn't that a game in the arcade?_ "

At that moment, Lincoln knows that he is about to be cornered with a real revelation. "Sorry Clyde, gotta go!" He then cuts off his call to Clyde and goes back to Lori. Well, it can be told that the night would not be easy for the perturbed tween.

* * *

Back at home, Lincoln retreats to his room to contemplate about his labeled "forbidden friendship". To look at if fairly, the innocent 11-year-old intends only a hand of friendship to a cool girl. So, it becomes rather uneasy for him to share about his growing friendship with Paige, as this will be misinterpreted.

Nevertheless, he pledges to keep it low profile. He then opens his laptop to reveal that Paige is still online on Messenger at quarter to 12. A no-brainer, Lincoln sends her a message: "Hey, called you out a while ago after Dia delos Muertos…" He waits for several minutes for her to respond.

This is what she replied: " _Sorry, had to hurry home. There was a big dinner at home. My dad's friends from works came. He had to hurry to bring me home 'cause my mom was busy cooking. I helped mom anyway._ "

Lincoln replies instantly, " _What you served for dinner?_ "

" _Roast beef, steamed vegetables_ ," she responds, " _I also made blueberry cheesecake._ "

"Wow! That probably looks like an awesome dinner."

" _Well, my mom helped me. I'm kind of a klutz in the kitchen. But I'm learning._ "

"Me too. Well, I do cook but I am still at the stage of making jelly sandwiches."

" _Awww, have your parents taught you to cook?_ "

"They do. But they just explain how to cook, not teach me."

" _Well, tell them you can start by frying food. That way, you can learn the basics of gourmet cooking._ "

"Gosh. It may take time to get used to frying food. Got splattered with oil once."

" _Aww poor thing. You'll get the hang of it._ "

"Thanks there!"

" _Oh, by the way, the guys saw this video from a while ago. I think it's your parents there._ " Paige then sends a video featuring Mr. and Mrs. Loud getting mauled by the flesh-hungry skeletons. (Though, the reason why and how the video is filmed is anyone's guess.) Most notable here is that Lynn Sr. cannot stop screaming.

Lincoln plays the video, but the volume is too loud that he frantically tries to mute the laptop.

Suddenly, Rita bursts into the room. "Lincoln, what did I just hear?"

"Uhmm nothing mom," Lincoln explains, "I was just…uhm…watching a horror movie." He afterwards jitters nervously.

"In the middle of the night?" his mother questions him.

"Yes, yes I am. It would be so much better if I watch this…movie at midnight. Hehehe," he shrugs in return.

But Rita is not buying to any of her son's excuse. "Lincoln, please go to sleep." She then exits the room, but not before returning to say this, "Hey, thanks for taking the candy to the foundation. It was a great help. You know, I could use a little help next time."

After his mother left, Lincoln is blessed with something of a plot point.

* * *

The next morning, Lincoln walks to his school with optimism on his back. Abruptly, a student of his age, who is wearing glasses and suspenders, walks to him.

"Hey, you're Lincoln Loud, right?" the boy asks.

"Yeah?" Lincoln answers.

Right after, the boy immediately berates him, "Traitor! You despicable traitor!"

"What? What are you talking about?" Lincoln responds.

"How could you betray the feelings of the one you loved?! The one you declared your feelings for!"

"Hold on a sec, why would you think of that?"

"Well, better do a little explaining online!" As his anger reaches the tipping point, he nearly grabs Lincoln, but he dodges him and makes a run for it. "Come back Loud!"

The boy chases Lincoln throughout the school. But Lincoln manages to lose him. He run towards an empty classroom where he spots some familiar faces.

"Lincoln?" Tabby notices him.

"Tabby?" Lincoln becomes shocked at her presence, and so as well of Haiku, Giggles and Polly Pain. "Guys?! What are you doing here?"

"Oh nothing too personal," Giggles replies.

"Except when you waste us hoping and you disgracefully cheat on your girl!" Tabby scolds him.

"What?! How do you know…I meant that ain't true!" Lincoln defends.

"Speak for yourself, Lincoln," Haiku tells him, "The heart is too deceptive to count on."

"Now, you will feel the true pain!" Polly Pain scolds him.

With that, the four girls chase Lincoln away from the room and across the halls.

The only instinct that Lincoln has is to fend off from those who "accuse" him of cheating on Ronnie Anne. Thinking he lost them, he stops by at a hall full of lockers when someone suddenly drags him inside one particular locker.


	8. Chapter 8: The Zany

Previously, Lincoln was chased by Ronnie Anne x Lincoln supporters that somehow included Tabby, Haiku, Polly Pain and Giggles. Now, Lincoln gets dragged into a locker by none other than his twinning subordinate Lena Lark from 'the other house'.

"Lena, what are you doing here?"

"I have to get you safe away from that fiasco, somehow," Lena explains.

"Isn't this weird that you should be in another narrative than this?"

"Tell that to those guys who made the Dark Universe happen."

Shrugging that off, Lincoln utters, "Fair enough. But wait, how do you know about this mess?"

"It was everywhere in the school," she expounds, "I don't know. Somehow started online. Then I hear it from classmates." Lincoln gets baffled by the effect of such trivial chatter. "It is kind of amazing that you and Ronnie Anne have a fan's club."

"Wait, the school knows about that too?"

"You're right, they do."

"Okay, Lena, just to clarify, me and Ronnie Anne are not a thing."

"So, what's with all the sweet-sweet moments between you two?"

"It was nothing. I was just being a close friend to who is obviously a bully."

"Okay, you know people get mixed signals when a boy and a girl get too close to each other?"

"Yeah, but I never know that will get to this point."

"That's why we have to get this news straight!"

However, he only has this concern in mind: "Oh no, I hope she doesn't find out!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Oh nothing. Nothing. Just thinking if Ronnie Anne finds out or what?"

"Wait, does Ronnie Anne know about this?"

"Why we should ever mind about this? Romance isn't her thing. So naturally, she would just rub it on your face and say 'no'."

"Lincoln, there are two kinds of people who react to this news: those who tease you for befriend a real tough girl and those who support you for good. And let us just say that the latter is kind of angry at you."

"Man, you seemed to know a lot about this."

"I watched teen chick flicks with Loui. Out of my game. But back anyway, we have to bring Ronnie Anne on this. There's no other way."

"What?! You can't! I mean, she is way far away from Royal Woods!"

"So, let's get to her then. We'll take a bus to her place in the weekend."

"Then, what's next there?! I'll get the news straight that we're not a couple?"

"Or you could appease to the fans and the other kids that you two are forgiving each other? And you have to admit you are wrong at cheating."

"I'm not cheating Ronnie Anne when I and Ronnie Anne are not even a couple!"

Suddenly, the hall monitor bangs at the locker where the two are hiding. "Hey, no making loud noises in the lockers. Don't even attempt from class!"

Lena then whispers this to Lincoln, "Well, truth or not, you have to stop the riots there. And this is the best way to die the noise down."

Right at that exact moment, supporters of the shipping march inattentively in protest across the halls. Lincoln can just feel the intensity of even the extreme supporters of his so-called traitorous act.

"See?" Lena gives her point.

But as the mob passes by, Lincoln inexplicably sees Paige walking towards the crowd. And from her look, she seems curious of the ruckus.

Immediately, Lincoln rushes out of the locker and drags Paige away from the crowd and into a nearby classroom that has an open door.

"Lincoln!" Lena catches up to him after rudely fleeing away from her. Unfortunately, she never sees Lincoln again, almost like he vanished out of thin air like Batman. "Dang it! Where did he go?" She then goes on a stealthy search for Lincoln.

* * *

Meanwhile, after school, Clyde walks to the Loud residence with the intention of hanging out with his best buddy. It seems normal routine, until as he knocks on the door, a wild-mannered Lynn answers for him.

"Oh Clyde, nice for you to drop by. Just man that we're looking for," she sneers deviously.

"Uhhhh man you we're looking for," Clyde wonders.

"Uhm nothing. Just having spoken about."

"Anyway, is Lincoln home? We agreed to meet after school."

"Not yet, it seems. Why don't you step in and wait for him inside?" Lynn delivers with a not-so-subtle sinister tone.

"Why do you sound like that?" Clyde asks with a rise of nervousness.

"Not at all. I just watched this video internet where this guy pranked his parents because he imitated the voice of an evil TV character."

"Well, good effort for you, Lynn. Maybe too…ominous, but you could do a Disney villain impression," Clyde says as he steps into the Loud house. Clearly, he is not aware of what will happen next.

"Now!" At Lynn's signal, somebody closes the door and knocks Clyde unconscious.

* * *

When he is about gain consciousness, Clyde sees himself in a dark space where it is hard to breathe. Obviously, his head covered in a black bag, which gets taken off after he wakes up.

"Wha…what the…where am I…who are you?" Clyde asks the shadowy figures in front of him; shadowy because of the dim lighting. And it seems that he is in an interrogation room.

"We come at the upset of something grave, Clyde McBride!" Lynn, her face painted with red and black like a savage, fiercely confronts him.

"Lynn, what's happening here? Did you guys knock me out for this?"

Despite some reasonable questions, Lynn points her hockey stick to the poor 10-year-old. "We ask the questions here, McBride. So better cooperate or face the ultimate torture!"

"And that is…?"

Lynn then point to three unrecognizable figure who are covered in dark hoods and hockey masks preparing a rope, a post and a basin full of Lynn's smelly gym socks.

"Uhmmm what are the socks for?" Clyde nervously inquires.

"Do you really want to know?"

Segue to the part where Lynn immediately ties Clyde upside down on the rope with the basin of socks below him. The stench flows above towards Clyde's sensitive nasal passages. It may seem torture, given Lynn's penchant for draining sweat. But Clyde begs to differ, "You think you can torture me with smelly socks! I got…used to them…in…gym class!"

"Oh really?" Lynn then snaps her finger, which signals for the nearest hooded figure to let go of the rope that Clyde is hanged on, causing him to drop and sink to the pool of socks. "Now cooperate! You said at that night, the last night of the Day of the Dead ride…!"

"Wait, how do you know that?" Clyde asks interferingly as he is pulled back up.

He is lowered again to the socks. "I ask the questions, not you!" Lynn warns him. "Now, you said Lincoln likes another girl, who is not Ronnie Anne. Now, tell me, who is this girl Lincoln is talking about?"

"Why would I tell you?" Clyde utters before he gets drowned again.

"Tell us or else!"

One by one, Clyde gets immersed to the smelly pile. "I would rather die…! In a pile of socks! Than…! Okay, it's less dignified than…! It looks!"

"Tell us who's the girl or else!"

"Or what?!"

Just at that moment, a vehicle pulls up at the front of the Loud house. Lynn looks up from the curtain to see Lori parking Vanzilla. "Oh just what I wanted to see!" she sneers evilly. But as the sports junkie looks back at Clyde, he vanishes from her sight. "Clyde! Where'd he go?!" she scolds to her dark-hooded cohort, who she didn't notice got knocked out.

The hooded figure then shrugs, "I don't know."

"He might have escaped! Get him!" And with that, Lynn and her three hooded cohorts chase after Clyde out of the room. But it comes to a close as they completely exit the room, Clyde emerges from the pile of socks, suffocating from the horrendous smell, and quickly exits the Loud house from the window. It just happens that he was sock-boarded in Lisa's room. But to where he must go, he will never know.

 _Onto the next louder chapter…_


	9. Chapter 9: The Coincidence

Lincoln is about to get home, relieved from a riot of a day in school when he bumps into Clyde, clad in sock stench. "Clyde?"

"Lincoln, buddy, glad I found you!" Clyde then embraces his best friend out of sheer respite.

"Clyde, what's going on? And why you smell like rotten eggs?"

"Oh, this?" Clyde then sniffs himself, just to confirm. Repulsed, he utters, "Oh, I'm going to be sick!" Suddenly, he throws up to a nearby bush.

"There, there Clyde," Lincoln pacifies him.

"Man, don't want to think about that fungus experiment." Just recalling that tidbit from his memory makes Clyde hurl more and more. Lincoln just lets Clyde take his time to calm himself from the awful smell.

"You good?" Lincoln asks, to which Clyde replies with a moan. "I take that as a 'yes'. We,, we better take this stink off at my place."

"No buddy! Not in your place!"

"Why? It's just my place…"

"Let me explain everything in my place. Now!"

Regardless, Lincoln goes along with Clyde's suggestion. And they rush to Clyde's home to reconvene with the matters at hand.

With that, Clyde relays everything that happened to him, from the absurd gym socks-gating by Lynn to nearly slipping the truth about Paige. It is about that Lincoln sees on Clyde's eyes that stools are hitting the fan.

"…But gladly they got distracted when Lori arrived. Oh Lori, she shouldn't see me like this. But anyway, I head butt the hoodie guys. I don't who they are, but I knocked them out. And I hid in that pool of socks to fool them that I escaped. Which explains the stench." Clyde suddenly smells his armpit, detecting some stench left over. He then sprays it with an air freshener. "Anyway, I got out of the roof and jump from it. Glad your dad left a tattered mattress below. Or else, that would be painful. And that's where you come in."

"But Clyde, are you serious about Lynn interrogating you about Paige? Along with three tall guys in hoods?"

"It's strange but it happened, buddy!"

"Oh man, this thing is everywhere!"

"I know man. Check out the forum for our game." Clyde then shows his phone to Lincoln on an ongoing online discussion of Lincoln's alleged "infidelity", with one guy replying: "somebody should send Lincoln to trial!"

Lincoln is more flabbergasted to know about its relevance. "Man, no, no, no, no! This is not good!"

"Lincoln! Lincoln!" Clyde gets his turn to calm Lincoln down but he keeps stuttering "no" like Shia LaBeouf from _Transformers_. That is when Clyde literally snaps him out. "Lincoln, we got to work this thing out, or we both have to scream out 'no' like crazy."

With few deep breaths, Lincoln subsides from his panic. "Okay…okay…I'm good. So, what do we do?"

"Well, the question is 'how do we appeal to those who are mad at you?'"

"Clyde, they are mad from the wrong reasons. I was never in a relationship with Ronnie Anne, so why would I be blamed from 'cheating'?"

"If that's the case, there is one obvious thing to do: we need Ronnie Anne in this."

"What?!"

"Lincoln, those people are mad because they think you have been unfaithful to your 'girlfriend'. We have to straighten this up to them. But we need Ronnie Anne in this." Clyde then notices Lincoln being dismayed. "Lincoln, you and Ronnie Anne are still good, right?"

Despite his best friend's retorts, Lincoln still thinks about any possible solution to their predicament since he wants to avoid bringing up one particular moment that made him think twice of his friendship with Ronnie Anne. But he sees no other direction to go to but there. "Well, here goes Saturday."

* * *

Jump to that Saturday as Lori and Lincoln pack up for their trip to Action Park. Until now, for some reason, Lori has no knowledge yet of the ongoing gossip about Lincoln's alleged infidelity, which is absurd and uncharacteristic on its own right. But her sisters warn her.

"Hey dude, glad you would bring Lincoln to meet with Ronnie Anne again," Luna says. "Those two really deserve each other."

"I literally know Luna," Lori responds, "Wait, is this still about Lincoln in his 'cheating'?"

"It's true. I have seen it with my own two eyes! If you could just listen to what we have to say," Lynn defends.

"Look, Lynn, Luna, cheating or not, I will take this matter on my own hands. And if he does, oh, I will literally make sure he doesn't see the light of day."

Meanwhile, Lincoln gets out of his room, bringing a shoulder bag with him. But before that, he sent a message to Clyde about their proposed plan.

Suddenly, along the way, his other sisters gaze at him 'nicely', as if they are children from Stepford.

"Hey Linky!" Lola greets him, "We are so happy that you finally get to spend time with Ronnie Anne."

"We are so excited for you two! Hanging out after so long!" Lana follows up.

Luan "Yeah! Hope you two have fun and not Ronnie Anne trouble. Hahaha! Get it?"

"Thanks…I guess…" Lincoln replies hesitantly.

"Oh don't you worry about us. You two have fun," Lola insists.

Leni then slips this away from her lips, "Yeah, and remember not to cheat on Ronnie Anne because it's bad!"

"Leni!" the sisters scold at her.

"Wait, how did you or…what are you talking about?" Lincoln addresses.

With the revelation cornered, Lucy spills the beans, "Lincoln, we know about it. About you hanging out with another girl. How could you do this to yourself when we root for you?"

"Hold on, never mind that you know, but why would you think of that?"

"Oh don't give us that excuse, big brother!" Lola rebukes.

"Listen, doesn't mean I hung out with another girl doesn't mean I like her," Lincoln defends.

"If I may, Lincoln, according to studies, polygamy starts out with unrestrained compulsion to hormonal reactions to another desirable being that causes to overlook established responsibilities to a loved one," Lisa explains in her hifalutin manner.

"What does that mean?"

"It means your interaction with another girl might have been a cause of liking her," Lisa elaborates.

"Look, guys, there's no harm in being friends with another girl. Should that be hard to anyone?" Lincoln defends. "And Lisa, how come you know these stuff? They seem to mature for you."

"I studied these in college, genius," Lisa slyly replies.

"You should have been a lot smarter, genius," Leni failingly attacks back at him.

"Now, you got a lot of making up to Ronnie Anne if you don't want your secret to slip out," Luan warns him.

"And if you don't want to make your 'friend' unhappy," Lucy follows it up.

Never mind to how his sisters know about his secret liking to Paige, Lincoln is nervous at the threats thrown by his sisters. It is going to be a tough road for him to correct himself and his actions to a mainstream group who loves rousing stories of romance, Marvel movies, the show _Riverdale_ and Taylor Swift songs.

After that fierce confrontation, Lincoln scoots to Vanzilla, where Lori is waiting for him.

"Are we good?" Lori asks her brother, as he is fastening his seatbelt.

"Yep, ready…for Action Park…and fun…" Lincoln replies, though with a less confident tone.

"…and to see Ronnie Anne?"

"Right! And to see Ronnie Anne!"

With that, they leave the house, not before Lincoln seeing his sisters waving goodbye from his side mirror, and Lynn giving him a "watching you" gesture, then showing her fist, just to show that they are serious in his relationship with Ronnie Anne.

* * *

It is an hour drive to Action Park, and it is not a hassle to get there via vehicle. The only problem is Lincoln is still inhibiting the guilt from his sisters, and the right beside him is a person who is sensitive to that information.

"Look Lincoln, I don't literally intend to bring with you on this trip."

"That's it? So why are you taking me to the park? Aside from the fact as a favor for Bobby and me needing to 'bond' with Ronnie Anne?"

"Lincoln, can you literally look this at another perspective? I really wanted a genuine bonding moment, and I want to do this with my only brother and my boyfriend's only sister. I hope you understand."

That is when Lincoln realizes what kind of seriousness that his sisters, more particularly his eldest sister, try to enunciate. With that, he earns their respect. "Well Lori, I think this day will be fun. I guarantee it."

Lori smiles at this.

They finally arrive at the Action Park. But first, they drop off on the parking lot that is just a walking distance from the park. Excitement has yet to strike on Lincoln. "Well, might as well seize the moment while the plan takes place. What could go wrong?"

Just as he thinks about it, another van parks next to them. Lincoln sees the occupants, only to see one familiar face: "PAIGE?!"


	10. Chapter 10: The Contrivance

"What was that Lincoln?" Lori asks her brother when he lowers his head. "Lincoln?!"

On the spot, Lincoln gives this excuse, "I was just uhhhh looking for my Action Park coupons. Must have dropped them on the floor." He then sneakily pulls out his phone to text Clyde to meet him immediately. But this takes longer for Lori to suspect something.

"Lincoln…"

"Wait…found them! Found 'em!" Lincoln proclaims as he raises his coupons to her. "See?"

"Whatever," Lori utters, but gets more upbeat, "Alright, let's go!"

As they get off the van, Lori and Lincoln unload their pool gear, all at the same time for Lincoln to avoid being spotted by Paige from the adjacent car. Moving to the left side of the van, Lincoln notices a green LED light being flashed to him, which is a signal from his best friend Clyde who is hiding in the bushes. The latter then signals him to proceed to the forested part of the parking lot to relay the plans.

Thus, Lincoln excuses himself from his sister. "Hey Lori, I just heard of this…new churros cart set up outside the park. Might I wanna check it out and hopefully buy us some…?"

"Woah, slow down there. I need help to bring these stuff inside."

Lincoln is kind of astounded on the stuff that Lori brought for their visit in Action Park. If the sunblock, umbrella, cooler, lounge chair, beach ball, blanket and picnic basket are not enough to give away the impression, it is almost like Lori thinks they are visiting the beach.

"Lori, you do know we are going to a water park that is also a theme park, right?" Lincoln addresses.

"Have any problem with that?"

"Not really…"

"Good. Come on. I need a lift. Then you can go for churros."

Reluctantly, Lincoln complies to Lori's insistence. But as they stroll towards the park premises, he quickly signals Clyde to meet with him inside the park. Lori shows the seasons passes (a VIP pass nonetheless) that Bobby gave to her to the counter before allowing them to step inside.

* * *

Action Park resembles more of the infamous theme park that inspired it. It is a fusion of a water park and an amusement park, where all the extreme aquatic rides imaginable are in store for the visitors. So, it is no wonder that Lincoln is pumped to visit there one day. Though, this visitation will take a lot of guts to hold on.

But that should not stop for the 11-year-old to be amazed at the awesomeness in front of him. "Wow!" He then spots the park's signature ride, The Rapid Roller, a high-speed water coaster that many guests touted as an "experience to get soaking wet and extremely wild". "I've never dreamed of looking at it up close!"

After dropping off their stuff near the kiddie pool pleads to his sister, "Lori, can I look at the Rapid Roller for a moment, please?"

"No Lincoln, we wait for Bobby first," Lori insists, "We should at least be grateful that my boyfriend gave us passes to the 'coolest water park' around. And you might be literally forgetting who you should be waiting as well. Huh Lincoln?"

Lincoln twitches at this sense of seriousness from Lori, knowing he cannot escape at her watch. Fortunately, he spots a nearby churros cart (convenient enough), ran by a familiar ginger, freckled face who winks at him. With that, Lincoln has a cover. "You know, speaking of which, you did say that I can buy us some churros if I brought our stuff inside…"

"Well, I do literally feel famished, so…" Lori then gives him $20. "Five minutes. Buy us four. And ask to keep it easy with the chocolate. It adds to weight."

Lincoln then rushes to the churros cart, whose vendor that Lincoln instantly recognizes is none other than Rusty Spokes. "Great that you're here, Rusty."

"Oh, not just me," he says as he knocks on the cart to signal Liam and Zack to emerge from out of the cart's compartment.

"Man, it's so hot in there!" Liam complains.

Clyde then literally rolls in to the scene. "Reporting here for you, buddy!"

"We got a big situation here guys," Lincoln reports. "Paige is also here!"

"WHAT?!" the four boys gasp.

"Great, now we have to handle three things here!" Rusty whines.

"I thought going to the park we'll be like a vacation," Zack adds.

"Wait, what are the other two things?" Lincoln wonders.

Clyde then admits something crucial to his buddy, "Well aside from watching over Lori, which is my proudly job, we saw supporters around the park."

"WHAT?!" Lincoln shrieks.

"Incredible dude," Liam adds, "There's this one table full of girls. And they were talking about ditching a 'girl of another culture' for another one of his kind. I don't know how you call that but it seems bad."

"It's my sisters," Lincoln assumes.

"Your what?" Zack asks.

Lincoln then expounds, "My sisters. They suspect of me cheating. Why would I cheat? I don't have a girlfriend right now. Even if I have, why would I cheat on another girl? That's just…wrong."

"At least you know the truth, buddy," Clyde emphasizes. "We just need to fight it."

"Okay!" Lincoln then lays out their plan. "Alright, we need to make this occasion go as planned. Clyde, you know what to do."

"Monitor Lori, and make sure she does not get any idea about the truth," Clyde finishes.

"Great. Zack, I need an eye in the sky. I need you to search for Paige and tell me her location. If she's around me, warn me immediately. Rusty, be my protector. See if there's any supporter around. If they attack, you protect."

"So wait, I attack too?" Rusty queries.

"You can distract them," Clyde suggests.

"Oh yeah, I'm not good at attacking…well, in real life."

Lincoln then continues, "Okay, Liam, watch out for Paige. Make sure she doesn't know anything about me or the rumors or the supporters. Got it?"

"Got my water guns and water balloons to distract them. Got it!" Liam responds.

"Here! You might need these, fellas." Clyde hands them out walkie-talkies and binoculars.

"Alright, let's do this guys!"

After that encouragement, the boys disperse to their positions, while Lincoln gets back to Lori in time with four churros on his hand. This time, Bobby just arrived.

"Oh there you are, Lincoln," Lori says to him. "Just in time."

"Oh hey little bro!" Bobby greets him. "Long time no see! Though not the sea!"

"Well, I see what you did there. Haha!" Lincoln responds him awkwardly, then hands his churros.

"Oh thanks little bro. Really needed the snack. I haven't eaten since this morning. And I just carried all your heavy stuff to a VIP room."

"But you should boo-boo bear," Lori advises him, "How would you save lives when you are down in energy?"

"Awwww. That's why I love you so much. Bobby then proceeds to cutely woo his girlfriend, in front of her brother. "Oh yeah little bro, she might have gone to the bathroom near the kiddie pool."

"Get to her," Lori persuades him.

"Okay…" At that insistence, Lincoln feels nervous at reuniting with one of his closest rivals/ friends. But as he approaches to her whereabouts, he calls her, "Ronnie Anne! Ronnie Anne! Ronnie Anne!" She never answered. "Huh…Well, I tried."

Suddenly, water gets hosed to him. Lincoln tries to dodge it, but the water jettisoning feels impossible to dodge. Obviously, this comes from Ronnie Anne, who ambushed him from nearby plant near the pool.

"Nice to see you again weirdo, after a long time."

"Ronnie Anne…" Lincoln stutters in front of her, "Well…yeah…a long time." He then tries to address the secret fiasco that happened to the both of them, "About that time…it was a mistake."

"Lincoln, we made mistakes," Ronnie Anne, with restraint to her usual demeanor, acknowledges, "You make mistakes. I make mistakes. We are not perfect."

"So, does it mean you forgive me for accidentally calling you…?" Lincoln clarifies, attributing the fiasco when Lincoln accidentally referred to Ronnie Anne as that, when he is actually referring to the room temperature. Ronnie Anne interprets Lincoln referring to her, which made him straightly clarify but accidentally admit his physical attraction to her. This causes for them not to communicate for some time.

Thus, this explains Ronnie Anne for grabbing his collar forcibly. "Just don't ever…" She eventually drops him. "…don't ever mention on it. It's just between the two of us, okay?"

"Okay, I promise," Lincoln assures. The two then take time to regain composure after recalling that awkward adolescent moment.

Ronnie Anne asks this: "Lincoln, I really don't ask this. Bobby deserves fun from bouncing from work after work. So, he really wants to spend his few minutes in the park with me, you and your sister. So, can I just have fun with one of my trusted friends in the world?"

Internally, Lincoln is in conflict if he should share the "Paige" situation to Ronnie Anne. But he thinks it will make matters complicated. So, he decides to set it aside, "Well…what are we waiting for?"

"Hmmm…well, why don't you try the giant water slide first?"

"Oh yeah?"

And with that, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne, Lori and Bobby take a full hour of fun and freedom in the Action Park before Bobby resumes his lifeguard duties. They take first not the giant slide, but the multi-lane racer water slide, where Ronnie Anne takes the lead from the company. They then take a log flume ride, which was just an all-wet galore, where Lori sat on the front, with Bobby, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne behind her. Obviously, Lori gets the most critical hit from there. After that, they go through bumping boats excursion, where the riders can spray colored slime to other riders. And as a scheme, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne target Bobby mostly. It is an awesome outing for the four.

And to culminate that, they take the ultimate giant water slide, situated on a 60 ft. drop.

Lincoln can feel the chills of trying a water slide from an unbelievable height. "This is really high!"

"What? Scared?" Ronnie Anne confronts him. "I thought you are tough enough to do this dare?"

But Lincoln boasts. "What? I am! I am tough! I am tougher than a block than you know it! Yeahhh!"

"Well, it looks like you're the fifth one to go."

Thanks to Ronnie Anne's warning, nervousness triggers within Lincoln.

"Hope you are tough, tough man," Ronnie Anne teases him.

Just at that moment, Lori's hat blows away by the wind. "My hat!"

"I'll get that," Lincoln says. And it goes to a wild goose chase for Lincoln to catch Lori's tropical hut from the passing wind. But as soon as he grabs it, he suddenly bumps into someone.

"Ouch!"

That person then easily recognizes Lincoln. "Lincoln? Is that you?"

But as Lincoln hears that, he suddenly sees that it was none other than, "PAIGE?!"


	11. Chapter 11: The Friendship

**Just a consensus, since Paige is a non-speaking extra, and if she is given an opportunity to speak, what do you think her voice would sound like? Ring me up a name of a voice actress that best fits for Paige.**

* * *

Lincoln is bewildered that he suddenly crosses paths to a girl he likes. His stammering really shows. "Paige! Paige, you're here! What a coincidence! I never uhmmm ever…hey!"

"Small world, huh?" Paige replies. "Is that yours?"

"What? The hat? No, it's my sisters. It flew."

"Oh, okay. It's awesome you're here, going to the world's awesomest water slide!"

But secretly, Lincoln is just uneasy on how he could get along with the situation, since Liam has not warned about her presence. But he tries to keep his cool. "Well, yeah. A first. Hehehe. But as you know, I'm totally cool with taking extreme rides and other extreme stuff."

"Is that so?" Paige asks. "Well, if that's the case, challenge…at the Rapid Roller!"

Going away from the potential couple sparking a chemistry, and Lori senses, "Where the heck is Lincoln?"

That instantly triggers a red alert signal to Clyde, who was putting his attention with Liam and Zack over an ongoing online conversation on their MMORPG game. He then contacts his best friend via radio, "Lincoln! Do you read?!"

Hearing that, Lincoln then whispers to his radio, "Clyde? What is it? I'm in a middle of something."

"I know. So as Lori! She's wondering where you are! You have to get back!"

"Just give me a moment. I'm with…Paige."

"That's why buddy! That's why you have to get back!"

"Just hold on. But wait, isn't Liam who supposed to tell me to stay away from Paige here…"

"There's a bigger problem bro! There are supporters on the slide. And they're spreading the news online!"

Hearing that, Lincoln checks around the diving platform, only to see one suspecting eye who is glaring at him. This is enough to bring chills to his spine and gulp his throat.

"Lincoln, are you okay?" Paige asks, "It looks like you are seeing something scary…"

"Well, the slide. Too high. So, the heights hehe," Lincoln replies.

"That's really normal. That is if it's you're a first timer," Paige remarks.

"Yeah…" Lincoln enunciates while he takes full notice on the suspicious supporter from behind the line. "You…you know what? Challenge accepted! At the Rapid Roller!"

"Awesome!"

"Yeah! I guess I have to get back in line! See you there!" After that, Lincoln leaves in a jiffy, leaving Paige quite awkwardly. Nevertheless, she smiles.

The least can be said for Lincoln as he swiftly takes Ronnie Anne by the hand, hastily throws Lori's hat back to her and heads down to the slide with Ronnie Anne when Lori is about to take her turn. "Sorry Lori! We gotta go first!"

"LINCOLN!" Ronnie Anne shouts.

"LINCOLN!" Lori shouts at him.

The two then take on the tallest water slide of Action Park, partaking in numerous obstacles. They slide up, they slide down, they slide side to side, and round and round. It is all screaming for them at the top of their lungs. "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"What's got into you, Lincoln?!" Ronnie Anne confronts him as she grabs him by the hair and pushes him to the slope.

"Will you stop?! I'll explain everything!" Lincoln pleads.

But the two get into a slippery brawl, rougher for the fact that they are still sliding while fighting. Ronnie Anne pushes Lincoln's face to the face, and Lincoln tries to get a grip on Ronnie Anne's arms.

"Do you worst!" Ronnie Anne scolds at him.

Suddenly, due to the inertia from both of their weights, Ronnie Anne slips out of the slide.

"RONNIE ANNE!" Lincoln then grabs her hand and attempts to pull her back to the slide. But his continual speed downhill prevents him to do so.

Ronnie Anne notices that they are moving towards the spiral part of the water slide. With that in mind, she thinks of an idea. "Lincoln, swing me towards the spiral!"

"Are you crazy?!"

"Lincoln, just trust me on this! And I'll trust you!"

Lincoln cannot feel secure with that as the only option presented to him. But his friend tells to trust on it.

"I don't want to hurt you more!" Ronnie Anne considers the scratches that Lincoln had as he holds on to Ronnie Anne.

Now, Lincoln is in doubt. But he still considers trusting his friend by swinging and throwing her towards the slides below as he trudges towards the last part of water slide.

Ronnie Anne then hangs on to the slide to avoid dropping below. She then tries to find a good leverage to enter back to the slide without hitting one of the steel supports. With that said, she takes a leap of faith by throwing herself to a slide below, ending up landing face first back to the slide. Though, she stops sliding down by clawing on the slope. "Gracious, I hate slides!"

Just at that moment, Lincoln slides towards her, hitting her in the face.

So, that ends up with Lincoln above Ronnie Anne, who was partially knocked down from getting hit. "Sorry Ronnie Anne! Just never knew that a trip to Action Park would end up like this!"

Ronnie Anne suddenly gains consciousness as the two accelerate downward and glide out of the slide and into the pool.

"AHHHHHHHHHH!"

That sums up a truly daring activity that a white-haired kid and a tough Hispanic girl had ever done.

They then rise up from the pool waters to rest on the sides.

"That was…fun!"

"Yeah! Real! I can tell…" Lincoln reacts.

"Not too bad for you," Ronnie Anne replies. "But back there, sorry for almost beating you up."

"Yeah, it's my fault for dragging you down with me. Hehe."

"Yeah seriously? Why did you cut it line and pull me with you to the slide? That's kind of…uncool. No offense, but why?"

With no other choice, Lincoln explains the entire conundrum to Ronnie Anne. "Okay, here it goes. It's a big deal, Ronnie Anne."

"What is?"

Lincoln tries his best to explain but the extent and the absurdity of the situation make him unable to. But he is immediately motivated with the newfound trust that he forged with Ronnie Anne. "Okay, there's the new girl I like. And she's here, in the park."

"Okay…?"

"The only problem is, Ronnie Anne, other people think we are…that we are a thing."

"So? Why mind what other people think?"

"It's bad, Ronnie Anne! Don't you see! There are groups out there who see us as a couple! There are people who think we are cute! Fans, kids, my sisters, Bobby, Lori and even your mom! They think we are boyfriend/girlfriend! How was I supposed to wrap my head around that? Look, the only thing I need from you is to tell them we are not a couple. Please Ronnie Anne! Just please to stop this!"

Ronnie Anne is just startled and speechless as to what Lincoln shared. Even if she can refute this insane situation, just because she does not pay too much attention on trivial fondness for puppy love and fandoms, she is still petrified that someone throws this to her with seriousness. Just as that thought sinks in, she feels upsetting warmth beneath her skin that crawls to her stomach. Something surprisingly negative. Now, the tough Hispanic girl has something to say about this. "And you have to tell this at this time?"

"Ronnie Anne, just please…"

"No Lincoln, you listen to me! You know what bugs me? For a friend to think this is a huge thing that he should mind about and 'please the fans' when you go goo-goo on me!"

"You know about this already?"

"In my school! I try to fit in but the kids there keep teasing 'Ronnie Anne and Lincoln sitting in a tree'!"

"Okay, okay I get it. That's why you need to help me. Just say to them we are not in a relationship."

"It's not easy as that, Lincoln. You can't just tell 'we aren't a thing'. They will just bully you more."

"It has to be. We kinda at least tell them."

"Well then, how can you explain 'cheating' on me?"

"Oh yeah…that one. Gosh! Why people have to think that way?"

"Not your fault Lincoln. Some girls in my place just had that stupid thing where they pair up a cute boy and cute girl, just because they are cute. And there, they think it is love. But I doubt it."

"Do you agree on them?"

"What? Why would I? It's bogus, for me anyway."

"So you disagree that we are not a thing?"

"No…I mean yeah…ahhhh…no…it's complicated, Lincoln. I mean I like you. But that's it. We're too young to be in love."

"Yeah, I have to agree." Suddenly, silence comes between them. Lincoln tries to retrace the situation, but he only can see Ronnie Anne letting slip of her feelings. "But you really like me?"

"Well, you are my friend. You are one of my closest friends. What is not there to like you?"

"I guess you are right," Lincoln replies awkwardly. "I like you too."

Silence again comes between them.

Lincoln then breaks the ice with this suggestion, "How about this? How about I prove to you how much our friendship means a lot? Maybe it will do. I wouldn't even mind what other people think."

"Well, wait are we waiting for?"

"Uhmm…for Lori?"

"Oh, right."

Just at the right moment, Lori slides down to the pool.


	12. Chapter 12: The Riders Part 1

**Before this chapter, I realized how much I lost control of this story. But I will hint you now that each character will have his/her consequence, especially the sisters. I still have to arrive to the point that this scenario is really absurd in the first place. That's really the next chapter.**

 **And since this is a Paige-centered fic, there will still be scene with her and Lincoln.**

 **With that, onto the fic...**

* * *

The entire afternoon is just fun-filled for the group. When Bobby has to get back to his lifeguard duty, Lincoln, Ronnie Anne and Lori spend the whole afternoon taking every ride and attraction possible. Wet and wild, they go. They even have a fun play of Marco Polo in the pool before they try more slides in the vicinity.

Lincoln ceases to mind or sense the ridiculous presence of the "Lincoln x Ronnie Anne" supporters for just a brief instance. He just feels the sense of excitement to spend it all with Ronnie Anne.

But in the other side of the spectrum, those supporters who either happen to be in Action Park or who enter the park, just for that sake, start to gather in search of Lincoln and possibly Paige.

However, it does not become apparent for Clyde and company, since Liam and Zack have to justify Lincoln's innocence on the stupidly alleged "infidelity". Clyde, meanwhile, is thinking of a backup plan.

"Clyde, these users are getting cranky here!" Liam raises. "What should we do?"

Zack then suggests, "How about throw in a pickup line like 'Your mother…'"

"Zack, I won't think anything stupider than that," Liam replies.

"Guys, just try to appease them," Clyde says. "This ain't supposed to be a big thing. But it is for them."

Just at that moment, Rusty contacts him via walkie-talkie. "Come in, Spokes. What do you have for us?" Clyde answers.

"It's a riot, Clyde! It's a literal riot!" Rusty alerts from the other line, alerting about the search party by the supporters, who are now protesting like crazy, as he is hiding from a bush. Absurdly, they are just ten guys.

"We are the Hispanic faction, ins support of Ronnie Anne and Lincoln," one supporter shouts. "And if Lincoln breaks the heart of our senorita, he will pay!"

Then comes an SJW, because of course. "Lincoln, if you can hear this, if you cheat on such a sweet girl like Ronnie Anne, you have caused a plaguing example to the men out there to dishonor women and other races. How dare you?"

Finally, a strong supporter (whom we shall name Don) steps up and pleads openly, "Lincoln, we don't want to hurt you. We just want you to be honest. If you really cheated on Ronnie Anne Santiago, or try to cheat, we swear that you'll hear the voices of our protest for the rest of your life! You crooked prick!"

This heightened the alert for the boys.

"What should we do?! What's happened to Lincoln?" Rusty asks on the radio.

Clyde quickly replies, "Not getting a word from him. I will soon. But here's the plan…"

After Lincoln's best friend exposits the alternative plan, Rusty takes a deep breath after learning of the costs of the plan. But as a big favor for a friend who is in grave need, he jumps out of the bush, to the surprise of the gathered supporters. "Hey fellas! I'm here!"

"Hey! It's that ginger who is friends with Lincoln!" one squeaky-voiced supporter implies.

Don then shouts "What are you waiting for! Get him!" And at that signal, the horde chases Rusty around the park. This is enough distraction that Rusty is almost good at.

Back with Clyde, he immediately commands Liam, "Liam! Send a last message to the forum and tell them to 'Leave Lincoln alone!'. We have a plan to do."

Liam does this, then closes the program tab where the MMORPG is and shuts the computer down. The three then proceed with Clyde's plan.

* * *

Back at the chase, Rusty leads the horde away from the adult pools to the kiddie pools. The chase includes dodging some kids, beach balls and slippers that are scattered around their way.

The frantic freckled lad then directs them to the left to a diversion to the snack bars. However, the Hispanic supporter spots Liam in Lincoln's resemblance.

"Hey there, I'm Lincoln Loud, and I love to read comics!"

Just as Liam grabs his attention, the Hispanic dude chases after him. "Hey fellas, I found Lincoln over here!" This causes for half of the horde to chase after Liam, thus breaking them apart.

On Liam trail, Zack hides from a floatable duck on a kiddie pool to aim on the supporters. He shoots from a water gun towards the supporters in hoping to distract them. Eventually, he gets spotted, but Zack loses them on another hot trail.

* * *

Meanwhile, the people truly responsible for this ruckus – Lincoln's sisters – are constantly following the development of their so-called movement from the laptop notebook. For some reason, they get a coverage of their exploits in Action Park via livestream. At this rate, they are getting closer on nabbing the perpetrator of what they think is a crime. While this seems to be a victory, not everyone is happy, most notably Luna.

"Uhmmm dudes, do you think we have gone too far?" she utters nervously.

"If we find that girl and know who she is, we have gotten far yet!" Lola squeals.

"It says here that they found Rusty too," Lynn reports. "Now we just need him to lead us to Lincoln, and then we can find his other girl." She then ends that with an evil laugh.

"Tell them to speed up," Lucy insists. "I can put a hex curse on that girl when I see her on the screen."

"Oooh! You can do that?" Lana asks.

"No," Lucy answers straightly, which might have sink Lana's confidence. "But let's see if I can make it work."

"You know what? I think I better step back. Too much." Luna does so, as she realizes the extent they are reaching. But her sisters never notice her words. Luna then turns her attention on the plug from the laptop.

* * *

Back in the park, after getting in every aquatic ride, Lincoln, Lori and Ronnie Anne decide to take the last attraction on their list: The Rapid Roller. With their VIP passes, the three sure can dodge the long line that is right in front of them.

"Here it is. The big one…" Ronnie Anne remarks.

"Yeah I can't hardly wait!" Lincoln agrees.

"Yeah…that's too…high…" Lori mutters, automatically implying that she is scared.

"Lori, are you okay?" Lincoln asks.

Immediately, she bluffs by pretending to stretch her body. "Me, of course! I'm literally fine, Lincoln. I'm just…getting ready. You know how are the g-forces in a rollercoaster, right?"

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne look themselves as to how they can handle Lori.

"But Lori, you told us all the time that you are brave at going to rollercoasters…" Lincoln brings up, "You even told us you rode on the Steel Dragon 2000 and made it through!"

Instantly, Lori confronts to him. "That was literally just a fabrication to impress you all! I never actually went to the ride! I just saw it…cried!" After confessing that, the older Loud sibling begin sobbing, finally giving away that she did not ride on any rollercoaster in her life.

On a rare instance, Ronnie Anne consoles her. "Look Lori, you don't need to regret. We really make stuff up just to impress the people around us. Now, you could see how I got this through with Lincoln."

Lincoln is impressed of Ronnie Anne's acknowledgement of the extent of her relationship with him.

Ronnie Anne then convinces Lori, "How about this? Let me give you breathing exercises that I learned from Bobby when he first brings me to my first rollercoaster. What do you say?"

Lori then nods, still sobbing like a baby.

"Okay, first, you stand." Lori then does so, as Ronnie Anne gives the next instruction. "Good. Now, pay close attention to me 'cause I'll show you breathing exercises…" And with that, Lincoln gives them time for Lori to cope up with her initial fears.

"Seems the two are getting along then," Lincoln remarks. He then lets his eyes wander around the water park until he stops at the Rapid Roller itself. He can almost imagine what it is like to be strapped to the seat as the train moves from one curve to another and soaks you at the same time.

As his eyes remains glued to the majestic view of the park's best attraction, he hears from someone familiar. "Lincoln!" Lincoln looks to his left to see none other than Paige holding two cups of yogurt.

"Paige, just in time!" Lincoln replies to her.

"Hey! Stand right on this time." She then tips her left foot to a spot where the pavement is slightly soaked.

"Why? What's on here?" Then, a train suddenly swoops by that splashes a wave of water down to where Lincoln is standing. Lincoln truly falls for that blatant prank from a girl he likes.

Paige instantly gets a laugh at that. "Just look at your face when you fell for that!"

"Okay, you got me," Lincoln utters.

"Well, just getting pumped. I can't wait to get on the Rapid Roller!"

"Yeah, me too! Almost as if I forgot what I was worrying about and now I am happy."

Just as that two are having a friendly moment, Clyde interrupts Lincoln via walkie-talkie. " _Lincoln, do you read? Over!_ "

"Would you excuse me for a moment? I have to take this call," Lincoln politely asks.

"A call from a walkie-talkie?" Paige remarks.

"What's up now, Clyde? You're leaving me blank for almost an hour…" Lincoln replies.

Clyde then signals him, " _I see you both from my view. Move four paces to your back. You might be seen by the supporters. Go!_ "

Immediately, Lincoln holds Paige by the shoulders and takes her paces back. "Paige, I want you to stand right here."

"Lincoln, what's the deal?" she replies.

"There's something…shocking you might see on your view."

"Really shocking, huh? That you have to push me…" And just like that, water gets splashed to her as the same train speed up to one part of the track above them.

"Oops! Sorry Paige! I'm sorry!"

But instead of being annoyed that she got soaked, Paige brushes it off. "Well Lincoln, touché. We got ourselves." She then takes a huge laugh at it.

Lincoln also gets along with the laugh riot. "Yeah, I supposed so."

Just as the two have their moment, Ronnie Anne overhears them as Lori has her eyes closed to "give in to the spirit of tranquility". She could almost see the two share bright smiles and good chuckles to each other, the same way she had shared with Lincoln. And thanks to that, she does not see anything wrong or unethical about it. "So that's her…"

"Yes, that's me, conquering my fear," Lori mindlessly utters while entranced to Ronnie Anne's rituals.

"Just stay right here."

"I will stay here. In peace…"

Ronnie Anne then gets into the conversation. But her tone is kind of confident but wary. "Oh hey…there…"

"RONNIE ANNE!" Lincoln hysterically replies as he knows where this is going.

But the Hispanic girl continues, "You must be Paige? I'm Ronnie Anne…"

"Oh, it's you. Hi!" she greets happily. "Yep, I'm Paige. Nice to meet you. Lincoln told me a lot about you."

"He did?" Ronnie Anne asks.

Paige then happily shares, "Yeah! He told me that you were the high scorer in Dance Dance Battle. It was really cool. Though Lincoln beat you to it when you left. But I beat him, player 04151865."

"Really, eyy?" she remarks. "Have he told you that I used to stuff beef jerky on his pants?"

"You did?" Paige is surprised at that fact that she asked Lincoln. "She did for real, Lincoln?"

"It's a long story," Lincoln remarks.

That is when the ring leader from the supporters group spots Lincoln from afar. The latter recognizes him since they come from the same school together. "Hey Lincoln!"

"Not good! We gotta go now!" Lincoln then grabs the both of them and drags them to the rollercoaster to escape from their clutches. Ronnie Anne takes the lead, while Lincoln takes Lori with him. Ronnie Anne spots the trouble at hand.

"Lincoln, what's going on?" Lori asks him.

"No time to explain!" Lincoln replies, as the group cuts in line and Ronnie Anne gives clearance on the gate with their VIP passes. The group then heads to train where Paige's folks happen to end up in. But the remaining seats vacant are on the front. Though, Lori and Lincoln didn't notice this.

"Lincoln, you have a lot of explaining to do!" Lori insists.

"Let me explain you after we get through this!" Lincoln coaxes her. "Wait, are we in…?" And it is then that he realized he is at the front of the train. It is too late for the two to get off as the seat restraints are sealed over their shoulders, and the train is going on a slow ascending.

Things get real for them.


	13. Chapter 13: The Riders Part 2

The Rapid Roller was known to be the most extreme ride not only in the park but of the area. So, it was quite unfortunate that Lincoln and company had to occupy the front seats of the train. But they hurry so, even though Lori is questioning her brother about it.

"Lincoln, what's the deal?!" she scolds to him.

"I'll explain when we get off here!" Lincoln assures. Just right at that moment, the train starts and gradually leaves the boarding platform. It then proceeds upwards on its tracks.

Both brother and sister are easily frightened of what will come of the ride.

"You were saying?!" Lori shrieks after she grabs her brother's hand and gets a firm grip.

"Lori, I'll explain everything later!" Lincoln pleads.

"Explain to me now!" she demands insistently, culminating in squeezing her brother's hand like an orange.

"What's going on there?" Ronnie Anne asks them after overhearing them, but the two ignore her.

Hurt by the force, Lincoln finally spills the beans to her. "Okay! I don't love Ronnie Anne!"

"WHAT?!"

Right on the time, the train reaches the top. And after five seconds at the top, it freely nosedives from such extreme height. All that can be attributed that the riders have the time of their lives, screaming at the top of their lungs. "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

At 77 mph, the train goes on the attraction's different obstacles. From going inverted to taking a 360 degrees turn, it is a wild ride. Of course, they also get soaked on the coaster's splash tunnels. Nearly, everyone loses his or her breath from such an exhilarating adrenaline rush attraction.

Though, along the course, Lori tries to bring up the conundrum, "Tell…me…the…truth, Lincoln!" But wind continues to gust in her mouth.

"Must…you…bring…this up…now…?" Lincoln replies in the same manner.

"YES!" she shrieks. But the older Loud sister cannot carry the conversation as the train takes on three extreme loops. She can just shout at the top of her lungs along with others in the ride.

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Loud house, the Loud sisters still keep track of the development from the Ronnie Anne supporters who are now fighting back Clyde and company.

Luna then blocks the PC monitor from them. "Okay dudes, I think we have gone too far with this thing."

Lynn replies, "What? With expanding our network? Not to worry. I am already setting up our HQ, which I already did." She then refers to her room, which she and Lucy converted into the unofficial headquarters for the Lincoln and Ronnie Anne support group, only adding absurdity to the extent of the fandom.

In response, Luna slaps her face. "No! I mean everything! Are we just gonna waste time with forcing everyone that our brother is meant to be with Ronnie Anne?"

"You're right, Luna, we have gone too far," Lola admits. But she abruptly changes to a demeaning tone, "That's why we don't need to! Lisa, get me a satellite feed on Lincoln's location."

"What?!" Luna shrieks. She then insists to her young genius of a sister, "Lisa, don't there do that, dude!"

"Too late," Lisa replies, "I intercepted a response from Lincoln's heat signature and voice modulation from the theme park's sonic vacuum that he is aboard the ride known as Rapid Roller."

"Good!" Lynn sneers evilly. "Lucy, message that to the group."

But Luna blocks her way to the PC, "No way, dude! Don't ever dare come near this compute and tell those people where Lincoln is!"

"Alright," Lucy says monotonously, "I will just use my phone then."

Immediately, Luna tries to stop her sister, thinking she is in a stop motion sequence with saying "Noooo!", a typical trope in movies and TV. But it is too late: Lucy presses the "Send" option on the forum to bring the location to the supporters.

* * *

Back in the park, the supporters instantly receive Lucy's message, causing them to stop chasing the boys.

"Wait, Lincoln's at the roller coaster?" the SJW supporter asks to herself.

"So, who's that guy there?" one supporter asks about the "Lincoln" he was chasing. That part of the horde then approaches him and rips out his wig to reveal Liam in disguise.

"It's one of his cronies!" the Hispanic supporter implies.

"Good. Let's capture him!"

But as the horde is about to capture the poor boy, Zack comes to the rescues by splashing water at them with his proton pack-themed water gun. "Get away from my friend!" After distracting them, he picks up Liam and makes a run for it with him, as the freckled nerd is also being chased by another horde of supporters.

"Thanks Zack, you came!" Liam thanks him.

"I know! But these guys are wild! We have to meet up and lose them all!" Zack suggests.

Liam then picks up his walkie-talkie and messages, "Code red! Repeat, code red! We have to distract the supporters! They found where Lincoln is!"

"Got it!" Rusty replies from the other line. Later on, he meets up with the two, regrouping the entire waterpark horde once more. And somehow, no park attendant nor staff member seems to be concerned about this course of horseplay.

Back at Lincoln and company, after five minutes of thrill, the train arrives back at the boarding platform. Everyone indeed had an extreme experience, most especially Lori, who with her hair messy is trying to regain consciousness from nearly passing out.

This gives Lincoln leverage to lead Paige out of the sight from his sister or any sneaky supporter.

"That was fun! Eyy, Lincoln?" Paige remarks.

"Yes, it is," Lincoln nervously replies while he subtly drives her away. "Listen Paige, it was great you waited me here. It was fun."

"Yeah, so want to hang out after this?"

"I want to, but we have to go."

"Ohh, too bad. I was gone have you come eat with the family."

Abruptly, Paige's father, who happened to be at the ride with the family, calls out to her, "Paige, honey!"

"That's him. My call." Paige then hugs Lincoln as a goodbye. "Thanks anyway for that bonding. You too Ronnie Anne!"

Ronnie Anne then waves before Paige skips back to her family. Successfully, she is not spotted by anyone from the horde.

"She's a load of fun," Ronnie Anne notes, "You have to sit beside her during the ride." She then recalls that instead of screaming in terror, Paige screamed in excitement, much to Ronnie Anne's amusement. "Got to be fair, it will be a lot fun if there's somebody like her if we go to extreme rides."

"I thought you like extreme rides?"

"I do. It just feels fun to pass on that excitement to someone more excited and not scared." She then raises her eyebrow to Lincoln, along with a grin.

"What?" he gasps.

Right at the moment, they hear Lori moaning and trying to get up and regain consciousness.

Lincoln then comes to her aid and helps her out of the Rapid Roller premises. The two then brings her to a nearby bench.

"Lori, are you okay?" Lincoln asks.

"Good…I am…good. Literally need ibuprofen after this…" she slurs, "Where was I? Oh yeah…HOW COULD YOU, LINCOLN?!"

"Lori, let's take this outside of the park. And let me explain."

"NO! HOW COULD YOU! How could you replace Ronnie with another girl?!" She then shakes Lincoln into submission. "How could you be unfaithful to her?!"

Immediately, Ronnie Anne intervenes, "Lori, relax. It's okay. We're not a thing. We're just friends."

But Lori glares at this fact to Lincoln.

"See Lori. Ronnie Anne agrees with me! We're not a thing! So let's leave this behind…"

Still, Lori cannot accept that fact as she takes a full grip on Lincoln's collar. "For all this time, believing in you and her, for all this time of counting on you, THIS IS HOW YOU TREAT IT?!"

Lincoln can only see the terrible mix of terror and distraught on Lori's eyes, as if the fires of destruction are engulfing around her. It is at that point that Lincoln knew he unleashed his sister's ultimate level of anger.

However, that is all interrupted when two Indian kids stumble upon them. One of which, a 12-year-old boy, asks, "Excuse me, sorry to bother but are you Lincoln Loud?"

After Lori brings him down from her grip, Lincoln answers, "Yeah…?"

Just like that, the two kids literally throw tomatoes at him, immediately confirming they are fellow supporters.

"How could you?! Cheat on Ronnie Anne for another white person! How could you?!" the boy scolds at him.

"We believe in you! And you just throw everything away! Cheater!" the girl from the duo follows up.

Then, it just becomes a series of insults thrown to Lincoln. While this may seem over-the-top and unrealistic in some way, what it effectively does is condemn Lincoln more and more.

Lori soon realize how much their insults are akin to how she insulted her brother in the first place, only harsher. There, at that moment, she sees the pain that Lincoln had to endure from the public backlash, which frankly started on the pettiest fact. They agree to her position, only to the expense of condemning her poor brother, who deserves more than just public mockery. Guilt enters inside her. Her anger soon drops. Her eyes glance on the sensitivity. And her sisterly instinct kicks in.

With that, she steps up for her mocked brother and tells this sternly to the two kids, "If you are going to insult my brother, you will have to go to me first! How about that, kids?"

The two then become scared at Lori serious threat that they take a step back before fleeing the sin.

Lori returns to her brother, only to see him crouching on the ground. Immediately, she lends him a hand, which he accepts dismayingly, and taps his shoulder. "I'm sorry…Let's get out of here."

The three then make their way out of the park, ending their stay on a sour note. Ronnie Anne tags along to comfort Lincoln along the way.

Lori then texts Luna that they will make their way home, along with saying what happened.

As a response, Luna confronts her sisters, who are still busy operating their scheme, in the living room by hosing them with water.

"Luna, what's the deal?!" Lola squirms.

Luna then shows to them the text message Lori sent. It says: " _Luna were our way home. Lincoln got bullied. Literally had tomatoes on his face. He is hurt. Need to fix this._ " She then insists, "We need to stop this, dudes. We've encouraged this."

After that, guilt has fallen to the eyes of Lincoln's sisters.

To add to the guilt, Lucy receives a news from the forum about the two kids who threw insults at Lincoln. Worse, it is implied that several members were proud of it. "Sigh…"

Upon learning that, the girls dismantle their setup and set them aside to prepare for Lori's arrival.

The mood changes for the girls. Clearly now, it becomes apparent on the extent of their scheme. It was for an understandable intention, but was done from their loosest deduction and done in the worst way possible.

But the worst casualty is Lincoln himself, who is deeply hurt and uneasy about how this piece of narrative went by. Lori holds his shoulder, not wanting him to feel indignant more.


	14. Chapter 14: The Forgiver

The day started gloriously but went off badly. Thus, the trio left the park unceremoniously. Lori called Bobby to meet with her at the Loud residence, while she took Lincoln and Ronnie Anne back home. The older sister remained doubtful as to what she could do, in response to the harsh attacks from the so-called supporters.

Lori just leans to her seat as she drives her brother and her boyfriend's sister back to the house.

After a four-hour drive, the three finally arrive at the Loud house, where they are greeted by a regretful bunch of siblings, almost as if they are ready to wear black veils.

"Lori, there's something we have to tell you," Luna leads.

Before that, Lori tells Lincoln, "Lincoln, you go to your room. I'll meet you there."

Just seeing their brother walk defenselessly to his room because of the mess they might have caused only adds to the blame that the sisters have to incur. Ronnie Anne, however, remains with Lori.

"What is it?" Lori asks.

Boldly, Luna confesses the entire truth to her older sister. The details are very blatant to say. But the most remarkable thing that comes of this is Lori's frustrated expression.

Back on Lincoln, he marches to his bed aimlessly. The weights of the day still drag him down. Even when looking at his social media feed through his laptop is as toxic as nuclear waste, thanks to the response from his disappointed fans and supporters. The spontaneity of this impact just places him to bed self-pityingly.

The less can be said for Lori, who is rugged and exasperated from the admission of her sisters.

"Look Lori, it is not as bad as you think," Luna tries to calm her down.

But that backfires as Lori scolds on her. "DOES A BOTCHED DAY-OFF LOOK BAD WHEN THOSE FREAKS KEEP POPPING OUT?"

"Okay, look, the bright side, we already encouraged those guys to stop," Luna points out.

But Lynn announces the contradictory, "I don't think so. I got a message from the forum that says to meet at Burpin' Burger for a secret meeting. I wonder why…"

"Better not follow them dude. Or give them ideas," Luna says hysterically.

"Great! We have literally obsessed fans meeting up together! Thanks guys!" Lori bemoans at.

"Well, Lori, don't think of it that way," Leni tries to appease her in a senseless defense, "Think of it that time we debated whether we are Team Edwin or Team Jake. And we made secret meetings and had some secret words. It was fun times."

"That's good, thinking about Leni," Luna replies, "But I just have to point out again to you to never bring up those movies ever again! I really regretted being Team Edwin."

Just as she mentioned that, Lucy stalks behind her.

For that, Luna rephrases, "No offense. I meant I move passed that. The movies are kind of dumb."

"But they are a guilty pleasure for me," Lucy adds.

"See what I mean," Lori moans dramatically, "Just because of a stupid thing that we love, the whole world literally crumbles. The world literally falls apart because of love! Now, I don't know what love is…"

Luan then segues, because of course, "I need you to show me?"

"Too soon," Lynn utters.

But back on Lori, she continues to vent on the damages her sisters done, "What do I have to do with you?"

Lola then takes the lead smugly. "Well, how about this Lori? We are totally sorry for creating the noise. So, you can forgive us anytime you want until the end of the day. Then we can forget all of this happened. How's that?" She then smiles at her, just to solidify the smugness.

Unconvinced, Lori tells her, "Sit down, Lola. You are not going away that quick."

This makes Lola grumble. "Please! I can't have a bad reputation on my hands. It would ruin my chances for future pageants!"

"Hey! It's not only you have to carry this burden!" Lynn retorts.

"At least you have muscles to carry it with, right?" Leni replies.

"I meant it favoritely, Leni," Lynn corrects her incorrectly.

"Figuratively, you moronic organisms," Lisa lashes back.

"Hey! Don't call Lynn a moronic organizer!" Leni responds aimlessly. "She's a good one."

"Actually I'm bad at that," Lynn reminds her.

It is at that point that Lori halts them from creating more confusion from the girls. "Alright! Cut it out! I'm the oldest of this bunch! I'm the messed-up one in this picture! And I have to drag poor Ronnie Anne here just to protect her from your schemes."

The Hispanic girl then replies, "Does that statement make it more self-defeating?"

"Well, literally so. But that's not the point," Lori emphasizes to Ronnie Anne, before she moves back to her statement towards her sisters, "The point is we are all responsible for this mess. And please talk this out before I crush each one of you like a human pretzel!" She then marches upstairs.

"Wow, she moved back to the same old Lori she said she left behind," Lana remarks.

"Where are you going?!" Lola asks her.

"I…will talk to Lincoln." At the end of her statement, Lori gives a calming tone. "Oh Ronnie Anne, please talk to my sisters. They need intervention."

* * *

After that, she gently walks to Lincoln's room, only to find that his door is locked. She knocks on it, trying to convince him to let her in. "Lincoln, it's just me. Can we talk about this?"

But Lincoln does not answer. He just has his face and body buried to the cottony recesses of his bed mattress.

"Lincoln, please. I…I mean we can't literally go through this without talking about this…"

Still, no reply from Lincoln. He never utters an answer or make any movement or sound from his room.

One more time, she tries to convince him, "Lincoln, we all are stupid. I admit I was stupid to be super thrilled about you since you are our only brother. I am too stupid to be sympathetic to you because I was too brainless that you also have your own wishes in life and so on. If we just talk about this, maybe we can understand each other. I will give you the time. I will just wait here…by your door…alone." And after that, Lori never speaks, unless Lincoln gives his word.

Minutes go by, and Lori leans her body crouched to the door to Lincoln's room. Moments later, she closes her eyes and takes a nap. That is the length she went for her to be empathetic to her only brother.

Thus, after fifty-four minutes, Lincoln unlocks the door and opens it for Lori. Immediately, the latter gets up and proceeds inside. She faces back at Lincoln, whose face is still worn out and distressed. As he wipes his face from holding back tears, Lori embraces his brother. Like any other hugs, it takes a while for them to break apart. In turn, Lincoln leans to his sister's chest and sobs completely.

"Lincoln, it's okay. It's okay. I'm here." Lori then comforts him, massaging his head and tapping his nape to control his tears.

"I'm sorry I ruined your day…" Lincoln snivels.

"There…there…It's not your fault. I didn't wish for this. I really didn't wish to hear you like another girl besides Ronnie Anne. But I'll tell you what happened. You made your sister understand you." She then returns to embracing her little brother, this time having his head lean to her shoulder. She perfectly segues her sentiments at the moment of comfort. "Look, Lincoln, I may sometimes be stubborn to understand you. I always thought that you are much of weakling. I admit. You can take offense at me all you want. But I tell you this. That no matter who are you, or what you want to do in life, I will always be your big sister. Yes, I may grumble a bit. But that shouldn't change you."

Wiping his tears, Lincoln replies, "Do you promise that?"

Lori then timidly declares, "Well, of course…why wouldn't I?" Finally, she straightens herself up to give out her point. "Look, you know me. I'm not that perfect. Or even literally consistent. But I will try my best as the big sister I can be. I mean you are all literally under my watch. So you can say I have no choice. But it's not a bad thing. I will love you regardless. We are family."

"Those are really big words, coming from you..."

"It's because of you, Lincoln."

"Say that again?"

"It's because of you, Lincoln. Well, not all instances. But I still learn from you. And look where I am now. Parts of it are because of you. So thank you…"

Lincoln has never heard that sincere declaration from his mean and bossy sister. But there she is in front of him, loving and caring, despite her attitude. It is a rare instance, but Lincoln takes comfort in that and he embraces her once more.

They take the time to ease the pain and be content of who they are right now. Lori accepts it tenderly, and Lincoln receives tranquility from all the noise and toxicity.

Minutes go by for them to comfort each. So Lori abruptly breaks the ice, "So…who is she?"

Lincoln willingly answers, "She's just a friend. A cool one at that."

"Well, just take my advice, you're still a kid. Enjoy being a kid. There's a lot of fun in store. Because dating, believe it or not, is work. You see Bobby? He not only works for the family. He also works for his school, his sister and for us. So, I was a dummy to think that dating can start young. But, the heart is that wretched."

"Ohh…"

"One more thing, don't ever follow your heart. It tricks you."

* * *

Back at the girls, silence somehow falls upon them as they wait for each other to start the conversation with Ronnie Anne. Admittedly, none of the girls have a deep connection with Ronnie Anne. So the set awkwardness is rather reasonable.

Lola nudges Luan on the elbow and point out to entertain Ronnie Anne. But Luan gestures that she does not know how to start the conversation. This leaves Lola to nudge Leni beside her and do so. Being a clueless sister, Leni cannot read through Lola's gestures.

"You want me to move my head like that?" Leni whispers to her younger sister.

"No," Lola mutters, "I want you to talk to Ronnie Anne."

"But why are we whispering?"

"You tell me. Now, go now! This already getting awkward!"

"What?"

"Just go!"

Then Leni speaks aloud, "I mean really we don't really to have speak in our soft voices. It's America!"

"LENI!" The sisters try to stop her from botching a good connection.

But Ronnie Anne raises her concern, "Guys, are things…okay in there?"

Lynn then assures her, "Oh it's nothing. It's just…you know sisters, being clueless as they are…"

"Like you," Lola points out.

"Hey!"

"Okay…is there a feud between anyone of you? Because I don't want to be part of it," Ronnie Anne says.

But Luna assures, "No, that's just how things work in here dude. We disagree in a lot of stuff. But we're still fun and cool with that."

"Really? So are you cool with not messing up with me and Lincoln?"

Lucy then appears from behind, which automatically scares Ronnie Anne and Luna, to give her defense in rhyme, "The regret sticks, our gazed unfixed, the damage was done to us pricks. We were so wrong for pairing you so much with Lincoln."

"Look, Lincoln and I are just friends, end of discussion," Ronnie Anne clarifies.

"But you two clicked and we could the zing in your eyes that you belong to each other," Leni adds.

"Yeah, that's just nothing but a feeling, right?" Ronnie Anne asserts, "Doesn't mean we click, doesn't mean we are a couple."

And just from that note, the sisters fully realize the errors of their ways that became a baseless fad.

Abruptly, the doorbell rings. Lynn opens the door to see Clyde, Rusty, Liam and Zack bursting from there.

"Clyde, you guys! What are you doing here?" Lynn asks.

Clyde immediately pleads to her, "You gotta let us in! They're coming! They're coming for Lincoln!"

At that call, the girls instantly know what is coming towards them. All are at shock. And all are not ready.


	15. Chapter 15: The Siege

Meanwhile, Clyde and company take shelter on the living room.

Then, the poor McBride kid relays hysterically what happened to them at their time in Action Park. He drops exposition of their entire scheme. Now, he is down to that point where they are being chased by the horde. "Then, they came from many directions. I was trying to contact Lincoln, but he was high up on the roller coaster that time. So we had to distract them. But I don't why but they have some…form of contact. Maybe in the forum. So, we tried to stop them from ambushing Lincoln."

When Clyde mentions about the forum, the girls become guilt-ridden since they are partly responsible for the establishment of the Lincoln x Ronnie Anne-centered shipping forum that was inside the MMORPG and some social media sites.

Clyde continues, "When Lincoln, Lori and Ronnie Anne left the park, we held off those guys from interfering with my best friend..."

Rusty then bemoans hysterically, "They were a lot! And you don't mess with that a lot of people! Ahhh!" But Clyde and Liam pull him back to the couch, where Rusty passes out from exhaustion.

"Even Rusty was feeling the pressure!" Clyde exclaims, "We underestimated the fans! Who would really know that fans can be this extreme?!"

When Clyde states that question, the girls look upon themselves since that query relates to them intensely. There is no secret that the Loud are extreme fanatics to their own fields of interest. Leni loves fashion. Luna loves rock and roll. Luan loves comedy. Lynn loves sports. Lucy loves anything gothic and hundred-year-old blood-sucking immortals. Lana loves mud. Lola loves beauty pageants. Lisa is a scholar to the sciences and the arts. And Lily has yet to develop the cognitive functions of perceptive appreciation, but she is a fan to her teddy bear. While being a fan is not technically wrong, the lengths of appreciation is where the moral ground applies. It is easy to like something; but when that something does not work on your own way, the right response is to accept it like a growing human being. But that sure was not the Loud sisters did.

With that insight, Luna takes the lead to revealing the truth, "Clyde, dude, we were thinking…and this has been in our minds for the past few days, it was hard to say that we…were…kind of guilty…"

"What are you talking about?" he asks.

Even though she has mustered the courage, Luna is still nervous to admit of their wrongdoing. The rest acts the same way.

But finally, it is Lola that stands up for them, as she spills the beans, "Okay we did it! We did it all! It's our fault! We thought that Lincoln is cheating on Ronnie Anne! So we exposed it! And look what we have done!"

Everyone is stunned at Lola's sudden burst of frustration, especially Clyde, whom Lola shouted at completely.

For this picture, Lola should be reprimanded of her actions. But she just takes it chillingly. "There. I think I made my point. You guys elaborate for me."

After that awkward moment where none of them is able to react, the ground starts to rumble, and the noise of an angry mob gets louder. Ronnie Anne checks out the window to see that supporters' horde has come marching towards the house. Their noise rings out, "WE WANT LINCOLN! WE WANT LINCOLN!"

"I better tell Lori!" Luna utters to them. "You guys stop them!"

The sisters then look upon themselves who among them should confront the horde.

* * *

Back at Lincoln and Lori, they take the time to cool off from the day's events. What transpired is a moment for them to be frank and to be able to understand each other. It is a frustrating thing if plans do not work how it was supposed to be. That is the feeling that Lori had initially. But all she needs right now is peace with Lincoln, even for a trivial wish as "being the boyfriend to my boyfriend's sister".

For now, the two engage in an interesting discussion about dating.

"So, how did Bobby work out on…giving the best dates you have?" Lincoln asks with sheer curiosity.

"Easy. He worked," Lori answers. "Well, there's more than that. But he literally worked all day. Remember, he still has his family to support to. So, he's much of the hard worker. Imagine how much of a good daddy he would be." She then dozes off, imagining her married life with her boo-boo bear.

Lincoln then remarks as his sister is about to share her gooey, intimate moments with her boyfriend, "I would beg to differ…not to imagine when you to go…you know…"

Just at that moment, Luna barges through the door in full panic. "Dudes, we got company! Now!"

With that warning, Lincoln and Lori check out from Lincoln's small window to see an incoming crowd of people hurtling towards the Loud premises. Though they can only afford a stiffer view.

The three then transfer to Lisa and Lily's room that gets them a full view of the protesting supporters of the Lincoln-Ronnie Anne shipping. The horde is loud and angry, and with their increasing number, they are ready to knock down any group or object that is coming towards them. Like any other protest group, they have placards, torches, sirens and megaphones to compensate for their noise.

Unlike the horde that came from Action Park, this horde is large in number, where all the factions converge, from the known ones to the obscure ones. Examples are from Lincoln's elementary school, the Californian sector, the Brazilian group, the SJWs again, the ones from Yale University, the uncreative slam poets, the Ukrainian faction, the Stevonnie shippers, a Bronies group and a fan group who are formerly affiliated with the _KaBlam!_ fans. The prospect of seeing the shipping fandom coming from diverse backgrounds just illustrates how much Lincoln's cherished friendship with a girl of different race crosses cultures.

But it is not on Lincoln's mind or care; it is theirs. So, it pretty much sums the reason they waste time clanging pots and pans and shouting "WE WANT LINCOLN! WE WANT LINCOLN!" outside of the house.

"Give us Lincoln Loud right now!" the leader of the supporters beseeches while he steps on someone else's car. "How dare he hurt our feelings for his act of betrayal to Ronnie Anne! It still bleeds in our hearts." He briefly tears up (phonily) before he resumes. "Bring us Lincoln now!"

"WE WANT LINCOLN! WE WANT LINCOLN!"

Rather than be talky about the absurdity of such a fandom's mass appeal, Lincoln takes a deep breath and marches out of his room to confront them. "This has to stop…"

"Lincoln, wait, you don't know who are you literally dealing with," Lori insists.

"Oh, I know. I know who they are. They are just people with nothing to do in their lives other than nitpick that I have done something wrong that literally hurts them. But I don't. So, I better smack the truth to them."

Feeling his insistence, Lori and Luna do not bring any force to stop him from marching downstairs and confronting the horde.

"Lincoln, what are you doing? This is madness!" Lola says to him.

But Lincoln looks at his sister and the rest of his sisters for that matter with a strain of seriousness. "Get the hose ready."

"What?" Lola responds.

"What are you planning, Lincoln?" Lucy follows up.

"Just get the garden hose ready!" Lincoln reiterates to her.

The sisters can only swallow up the fact that their brother is indeed serious about the impending issue. With that, Lucy and Lana sneak from the kitchen door to the backyard, in search of the garden hose.

Meanwhile, Lincoln bravely steps out from the Loud residence to confront the crowd. But immediately, after getting a glance of them, fear slows him down from moving forward.

Tomatoes and water balloons are getting thrown at him, but he quickly dodges them.

The leader of the horde taunts him with his megaphone, "Lincoln Loud, glad you step out of your humble abode. Now we just have to ask, WHY DID YOU BREAK OUR HEARTS?!"

After that, the crowd's collective cries are being thrown at him. Some accuse Lincoln of alleged infidelity. Others accuse him of ditching a woman of color for a white girl. And several of them accuse the young boy of setting his "romantic relationship" with Ronnie Anne as "not canon". All of which are petty floundering that the fans make a huge deal out of.

More tomatoes and balloons are being thrown at him.

And Lincoln tries to encourage them, "Guys…! Guys!"

But the horde's anger goes ballistic.

Thus, Lincoln opts for a louder call, "GUYS, I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH RONNIE ANNE!"

It only takes with that declaration for them to stop the riot. One Jewish fan abruptly brings up, "Really? Then why you two have a thing for each other in the previous episodes?!"

"Episodes?" Lincoln utters.

Then, the horde resumes the noise.

"Hold it! Hold it! I and Ronnie are just friends! We are...best friends, if I can stretch the extent of my friendship with her. But it doesn't mean she and I have a thing, even though it seems so. But look, I get why are you mad. But it should not have end this way. We could at least talk. What do you say?"

Hearing his thoughts, some of the supporters have their hearts soften upon pondering his point.

Then the leader Don speaks out for them, "Okay. We'll talk. Let's start with WHY DID YOU BREAK OUR HEARTS?!" That sudden burst instigates for the horde to burst in protest, again. More stuff is still being thrown at Lincoln.

But help comes to his rescue in the form of the garden hose that Lana and Lucy calls him for, "Lincoln! Catch!"

As the two throw it in the air, Lincoln catches the green hose and points it to the horde. However, as the boy switches it on in an epic way, the water being jettisoned out only reaches 3 ft., enough to water the bushes but not enough to stop the crowd.

But the water immediately drains out, making Lincoln shrug in nervousness. "Do you want to settle this with a cup of coffee?"

That does not manage to win the horde, and they immediately charge towards him.

Fortunately, Lori bursts through the front door and fires a firehose towards the charging horde.

"LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE!"

It is effective as the older Loud sister strikes the participants with a surge of water that pushes them back.

Like any other out-of-control mob, the sisters (consisting of Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lola and Lisa) pushes back the growling horde away from the Louds' yard with metal shields and toy batons.

"Lori…we beg please!" the leader Don pleads to her, but shifts his tone instantly, "But we won't stop!"

"Have you guys have literally anything to do in your life, aside from making a big deal out of my brother's love life?!" she scolds to the crowd.

"YEAH!" a Hispanic supporter proudly answers. "WE…We…do stuff!"

"Actually I have homework to do," his cohort, who sounds like Kumail Najiani, tells him.

"Shut up!" that supporter asserts. "We are proud to support our senorita having a boyfriend!"

"No thanks!" Ronnie Anne clarifies to him, after overhearing it from inside the house. This causes the supporter to twitch.

Nevertheless, Lori continues to spray the hose to them and eventually hands it to Lincoln to take charge.

Lincoln delightfully accepts and fires the hose to the horde, as the pack eventually disperses and retreats to their respective places. The only person left is that Don guy, whom Lincoln fires until he backs out of the area. Eventually, despite treating himself as an "stable genius" and an "unstoppable man", he retreats from being soaked and for slipping too much.

Thus, the horde is broken off.

Cheers come for the Louds, as well as Clyde and company. But even a victorious moment has to be ruined by Lori's confrontation.

"Glad that's over," she says. "Well, sis, is there anything you have to say to our dear brother?"

At the note, the sisters accept their fate and openly admit the entire truth to Lincoln. Lori as well takes part of the blame.


	16. Chapter 16: The Resolute

The next morning, after a grueling day before, Lincoln wakes up in his own bed, at peace and tranquility, complete with birds chirping in the air. He stretches his body and heads to the bathroom without any trouble or intrusion from his sisters. After fixing himself up, he heads downstairs to the dining room to see a tray of freshly prepared French toast, scrambled eggs and bacon that he places them into a sandwich. He then grabs the orange juice from the fridge and pours it to a sparkly clean glass. It seems like the ideal breakfast that Lincoln wanted at his lifetime.

His father even remarks that, "Hey son, try these scrambled eggs. They never tasted this good for years. You know, it helps when they do the cooking."

"Well, you can thank them for that," Lincoln says. "They wanted to return the favor after…you know, they just love the cooking."

"Oh! I must have inherited those genes to them," Lynn Sr. gleefully squirms. "Well, have to go to work. Hate it when the chef complains that I speed my way to work on time!"

"See you dad!" Lincoln greets him back.

Out of the way, Clyde contacts him via walkie-talkie, " _Come on Link, do you read?_ "

"Link reporting here, Rhett," Lincoln replies proudly, "Good mythical morning."

" _Great! I am just outside of your house. Hate to spoil your breakfast._ "

"It's fine, my good friend. Nothing has been bad happening now. So I'll take it. Over."

" _Well, that's a relief. See you then. Over._ "

"You too. Over and out."

After finishing his breakfast, he takes a gulp of water and brushes his teeth without any repercussion along the way. It is almost unrealistic to think about, since it is literally the Loud House. But there is a viable explanation for that.

When he is about to prepare for another day out, Lincoln checks out the backyard to see his sisters doing the household errands: Lori is mowing the lawn; Leni is trimming the bushes; Lola are segregating the waste materials to their respective biodegradable and non-biodegradable receptacles; Luna is watering the plants and Lisa is washing Charles' doghouse. He then heads to the basement to see Lana doing the laundry, Luan sweeping the dusts and Lucy hauling some stuff from the attic to be segregated downstairs.

At the sight of his sisters finally doing the chores, Lincoln takes a sigh of relief. He wishes not to say a word, but he is glad that his siblings take responsibility on their actions.

The boy then heads out and meets up with his best friend, infused with their secret handshake.

"Glad things are all patched up, buddy," Clyde remarks.

"I sure hope so," Lincoln responds, "I hope school is normal too."

"At least it is not yesterday."

"Yeah. I still can't get over the crowd." Clyde then shrugs that thought out. "They're really wild. I can almost imagine the girls in school, screaming at a concert."

"I know what you feel. I can't even hear myself screaming."

 _ **Flashback**_

 **After the riot between the Louds and the supporters that resulted in a real riot, the entire entourage finds solace in the living room. They take a while to recover and contemplate from the ruckus.**

 **When the air is cleared, Lori convinces her sisters to confess to Lincoln.**

 **And when they did, Lincoln cannot help himself but scream to their faces. "WHY?! WHY?! WHY DID YOU DO THIS?! JUST BECAUSE I LIKE ANOTHER GIRL, IT ALREADY MEANS CHEATING! I DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO CHEAT. AND THIS IS HOW YOU SEE IT. LOOK AT WHAT YOU'VE DONE. LOOK AT THIS. LOOK AT WHAT YOU MADE ME. AHHHHH SHAAAA."**

 **His venting takes a while. But the sisters accept the sentence.**

 _ **End of Flashback**_

"How long did I vent?" Lincoln asks Clyde.

Clyde then takes out his notepad and states, "Well, according to the document of our minutes of the meeting, about six minutes and thirty-two seconds."

"Really? That's how long I vented?! Gosh, never knew I would be that…mad. And trust me I get mad many times to my sisters."

"It's not the worst thing you did. I give you that."

 _ **Back to Flashback**_

 **After 6 minutes and 32 seconds of venting, Lincoln takes deep breaths to recover from his anger. His sisters are just astounded at their brother's sudden burst of aggravation. Just from the seriousness of his tone and his unsaturated frustration, they find a scary side of him.**

 **Lana then awkwardly breaks the ice, "So…uhmmm…are we good, big brother?"**

" **Lana!" Lola scolds her.**

" **What?"**

 **Lori comes to his aid by massaging his shoulders. "That's it, Lincoln. It's okay. You literally pour your emotions out. Now breathe in…breathe out…breathe in…breathe out…"**

 **He follows her instructions.**

" **Feeling good?" she asks, to which Lincoln nods while he shrugs his head out. "There…there…that's it, brother." She then confronts the sisters, "Alright guys, I might as well put things the way it should be. I myself am involved too. We all deserve a punishment from this mess."**

" **WHAT THE?!" Just by declaring that, the sisters complain collectively.**

" **Hey! We literally made this mess in the first place," Lori rests her case. "So we might as well pay the price."**

 **The truth hits hard for the girls that they have no other choice but to accept the sentence.**

" **Oh, I hate high prices!" Leni utters.**

" **Alright dude," Luna remarks.**

" **Fair enough," Lynn agrees.**

" **Okay fine," Lynn groans.**

" **We deserve it," Lucy notes.**

" **Great…" Lola snarls.**

" **Good for us…" Lana sighs.**

" **Definitely deserving," Lisa grumbles.**

 **Lori then opens the floor to Lincoln, "So Lincoln, you decide what we should do."**

" **Me?" Lincoln hesitates.**

" **Yeah. We need to learn the lesson the hard way. So might as well hand to you the bidding."**

" **Well, there's a lot I have in mind." After brainstorming, Lincoln lists down the consequences he had in mind for his sisters. Though he finds the opportunity to pour out his sentiments through the consequences, he tones them to avoid sinking lower than what his sisters have done.**

 _ **End of Flashback**_

At that moment on their conversation, Clyde remarks, "You did the right thing. Every mistake has a corresponding consequence."

"Oh yeah, speaking of which, how are the roller derby girls?"

"Oh, they are having a blast in the house. Gladly we have a lot of stuff to wash in our house." Clyde then notes to Lincoln about the sentences given to Lynn's roller derby group, the guys dressed in white hoods and major perpetrators for Clyde's sock-boarding. At the time of the sisters' confession, Lynn is forced to confess that she also harmed Clyde by interrogating him with dirty socks. As part of the consequence, Lynn and her roller derby team are sentenced to wash Clyde's dirty socks, stained shirts and other clothed materials in his house. Clyde at that time has a sigh of relief, seeing that justice has been served by his best friend. "I was surprised they showed up early. They have practice in the afternoon. So, they have to that first."

"I hope they are okay with that," Lincoln remarks.

"Well, they're fine, expect for Lynn. She had to carry the dirty laundry but it fell on top of her."

"Ohh…You think I was harsh to them?"

"Lincoln, you're not being harsh. You just helped them learn a lesson. You have the right to be angry, but not too much or even unlikable."

"I sure hope so."

"You're still bothered by that?"

"I don't know. I mean what they did really harmed me. But should I be that harsh to them?"

"How about this? After all they've done, and you know that extent, can you still forgive them?"

When Clyde confronts him with that question, Lincoln thinks it through. Sure, the graveness of his sisters' antics brought disaster everywhere he goes, he still loves them beneath all that. Just to clarify, this is not the only embarrassing they have done. And Lincoln himself nearly embarrassed his sisters once. But he is not regarding that kind of comparison. The matter is not how worse they have done to him, but no matter how big or small their mistake is, if he can still forgive them. "That's really hard to decide."

"It's okay buddy. We all feel that."

Abruptly, the two get confronted by a tough Hispanic kid riding a bicycle. It is the Hispanic supporter/protester, again. "Hey Lincoln Loud, glad I found you! Take this!" He then throws leftover slush to them.

Thankfully, at a timely moment, Vanzilla blocks the way, making the slush hit the sliding door. Lori then comes down from the van and confronts the kid, who is trembling in fear.

"You want to literally mess with my brother, again?" she growls.

"No, no, no, no, no…no…ma'am…" the Hispanic kid stutters.

"Come here!"

Just like that, the Hispanic flees and Lori chases him.

"Wow, your sister is really tough," Clyde comments, "No wonder I still like her."

After successfully warning the boy, Lori approaches her brother and his best friend. "Sorry about that boys. You guys alright?"

"Yeah, we are, Lori," Lincoln says.

"Well, I have to take Vanzilla to the car wash. Where you guys going?"

"Just at Gus' Games N' Grub," Clyde answers.

"Hop on. I'll be passing there, anyway."

With that, the boys willingly hitch a ride with Lori, and she drops them off to their favorite pizza establishment.

"See you boys! You too, Lincoln." Lori then greets him goodbye with a pat on his hair before she leaves them.

At that faithful lunch and afternoon, Lincoln and Clyde spend their time feasting on bacon pan pizza with onion breadsticks and playing air hockey.

"Now this is the life, eyy buddy?" Clyde brings up.

"Yep, but better watch out the puck." Taking advantage of that distraction, Lincoln hits the puck to Clyde's goal. "Score! That's 3-1!"

"5th round! I win we continue to 7!"

"Deal!" But unluckily for Clyde, even after near strikes to the opposing side, Lincoln succeeds in a hot streak. "Yes, goal!"

"Good job Lincoln!" one voice congratulates him. Since their time is eerily familiar, Lincoln learns it to be coming from none other than Paige. He then blushes again after hearing her notice him.

"Thanks…Paige…"

Knowing that something is on them, Clyde gestures him to approach her once more.

With that, Lincoln accepts and with a deep breath, he approaches his crush.

There comes a friendship that is about to bloom. Presumably.


	17. Epilogue 1: The Reunion

_Years later…February 1, 2026_

The Royal Woods Alumni Association holds an elementary school reunion, for various reasons. Still, that is enough to convince the students to flock to the gym parking lot for the celebrations. It is an outdoor affair where the decorations are entirely hipster-inspired with the bottled beige lighting, the handicraft-inspired trinkets, the makeshift wooden dividers, recycled paper designs and the indie rock music in the background. It is truly surreal that the once-youthful and carefree students of Royal Woods Elementary have grown into millennial twentysomethings who are either absorbed into finding new ways of livelihood or are still stuck in their college semesters.

The place is flocking with alumni, a mix of successful people to the laid-back ones.

On the middle of the party is a wooden picnic table where longtime friends Clyde, Liam and Rusty who are feasting on a platter of nachos smothered in cheese and bacon. The three (along with Lincoln and others) had a long way after enduring together in middle school, meeting rarely in high school and then dispersing to different colleges. Clyde currently works in the human resources department for a popular pet store conglomerate. Liam sidelines as a freelance photographer while he is pursuing multilevel marketing for a quicker buck. And Rusty is still at college, trying to complete his degree for engineering while sidelining on his dad's business.

At that moment, Clyde is just finishing a story about his latest meeting with Lincoln in New Orleans. "It was crazy 'cause there's this parade on the street. Marching band and stuff. Then, we just jammed on it like we don't care. Our eyes are closed. So it really was a shock that when we wake up, we're already part of the parade. We were like woah, we're now part of the parade and people are watching at us."

"That must have been really awkward when you know people are now watching you," Rusty comments.

"Tell me about it," Clyde utters.

Rusty then narrates, "Yeah, one time, when I strolled on DC, there's this protest. I didn't know what's going on. So I just wore my 'Right Here Sucks' t-shirt. Then some supporters of the president threw tomatoes at me. I hate to get into that mess again, especially with the supporters of the first woman president in the US. And trust me, I rather have tomatoes thrown on me then nepotism in the Oval Office."

"Harsh…How about you, Liam?"

"Well, I got what you were feeling one time, Clyde," Liam says.

"Really?" Clyde asks.

"Yeah," he replies. "You guys remember Tabby, right?"

"Nope, haven't," Rusty answers.

"Rings a bell, but can't put a finger on it," Clyde gives his thought.

"Well, there was this rock festival I went to. I think the front act was Arctic Monkeys. But anyway I was there and they played the best song ever." To Liam's mind, it was "Fluorescent Adolescent", and he is banging his head with no care at all. "It was really wild. The crowd sang along. And just felt the vibe. I keep shouting, 'Crank it up to eleven! Crank it up to eleven!' I thought I was the only one shouting. That is when I heard her." He then recalls a familiar girl who he spots in the crowd. She is with spiky hair with a mix of black and purple hues, sharp earrings, leather jacket, purple shirt and leggings, plaid skirt, leather gloves and a British accent that keeps shouting, 'Crank it up to eleven, mate!' "I approached her and I was like, 'Tabby, is that you?' She was like, 'Wait…did I see you from anywhere?' I tried to say, 'It's me, Liam. From 5th grade. We danced at the Sadie Hawkins dance.' She tried to recall, as much as I tried. But she was like, 'Ehh…what the matter? Let's rock anyway!' So, it was the two of us. We went crazy for the entire night."

"And…did you ask her out after?" Clyde asks.

"Well, I'll leave that to the both of us," Liam claims.

"Hmmm smooth moves right there," Rusty replies. "I get your thing."

"Rusty, it ain't like that," Liam asserts. "It's not like I'm 'I like you. And you like me. Let's date.' I am trying to get a good impression in here."

"So what'll you do? Throw pickup lines at her?" Rusty asks and takes a laugh at it with Liam. "Come on. It worked for me."

"It worked for you, you mean?" Clyde jokes.

"Yeah, he's right, dude," Liam responds, "Tabby is more hardcore. She rather goes for something extreme like laser tag fight or base jumping or tasting a lot of spicy food. She wants that."

"Where she is now?" Clyde asks.

"She's working for a label now. She never told me what label, but she's an indie hit," Liam expounds.

"Ooohh, I might be seeing a manic pixie dream girl from her," Rusty teases.

"We're not officially dating yet," Liam implies. "I need Lincoln's moves."

"Speaking of Lincoln, guess who is here?" Clyde then has the boys spot Lincoln, who just arrived in the scene. He calls out to him, "Lincoln, over here!"

Lincoln immediately recognizes Clyde's voice, and he approaches the entourage on the table. "Hey fellas!"

"Lincoln, hey! We're just about to talk about your moves," Rusty says.

"Yeah. I saw your photos. With that blonde chick of yours. You're slaying it!" Liam praises.

"Were you talking about Emma? The blond one?" Lincoln asks.

"Was her name Emma? Well, yeah, about Emma…"

"She's just a classmate. We're just being professional."

"Come on. Do you call chaperoning her to corporate banquets professional?" Rusty teases.

"She was married," Lincoln brings up, which changes the tone for the boys. "Yeah, I was shocked as you are when I first met her. So, you got what I feel. But, she's mentoring me. So, we're fine."

"I have to admit, she's one stunner," Rusty says.

"I thought it's you and Paige, the 'arcade girl you always smile back at you'," Liam brings up.

"Yeah, how are you with Paige?" Clyde asks the same concern.

"It's nothing guys," Lincoln despondently replies, "We had it all in high school, and tried in college. But we tried. It just didn't work out. You know how long distances are kind of hard?"

Clyde, Liam and Rusty have nothing to comment after that.

But even though he hasn't experienced a long-distance relationship, Clyde tries to console him. "Yes, they are. But we were there. You promised to her that whatever it takes, you'll make it work."

"I don't know. We just had different paths. We'll be fine," Lincoln says.

Then Rusty brings this up, "Are you sure about that? Because I am not sure that's what I see from her face."

The boys are surprised to see Rusty pointing to the arrival of Paige, with the worry on her face.

"Well?" Rusty addresses to Lincoln.

But Lincoln is stagnant, still unsure how to react towards Paige after their uneventful splitting. He tries to pick up words to mend their relationship, but he can only mumble them up.

Clyde then literally pushes him to confront her. "Go on, buddy. It's your chance."

"What if she…doesn't forgive me?" Lincoln shares to them, "I am not sure if I can be worthy in front of her."

"Just go talk to her," Clyde encourages him. "You'll never know unless you talk to her."

With that pep talk, Lincoln holds his breaths and hopes up. Bravely but tensely, he walks towards Paige, who was greeted by some female batchmates. "Paige...Paige…" he slurs every word inaudibly. His nerves continue to hinder him. But finally, with a deep breath, the then 21-year-old man calls, "Paige."

Finally, she hears and turns to him. She is very speechless, "Oh…Lincoln…"

Setting aside of their history, Lincoln cannot help but fathom on Paige's beauty. A lot has changed with her appearance. Her orange had grown and turned darker. Her wardrobe is more professional, though she keeps the same color scheme. And her complexion became fair. Another thing Lincoln cannot help is her attractive physique. It just occurred to him that his hair-raising shivers on his skin are attributed from her newly evolved beauty. "So nice to see you…" His throat dries up, lacking the words to describe her. "Love the new look."

"Thank you." Paige also comments on Lincoln's outfit (an orange plaid polo and shirt underneath). "Still the same Lincoln I see."

"Ohhh…it's a natural," Lincoln comments.

Seeing the connection of the two, one of the girls that Paige excuses themselves from them. "We'll just leave you guys here. We're just at the photo booth, okay?"

Paige corresponds, thus setting that group of girls there and leaving Lincoln and Paige. "Was a long time."

"Yeah…" Lincoln utters.

"Two years?"

"It was three."

"Oh. Okay."

"Look, I thought about it. I know it was a…big risk. And I was kind of immature."

"Kind of?"

"Real immature. But yeah, I lost faith. But if you want, if you really wish, maybe we could start over again? I learned hard. And my sister Lori had to beat me in the head with her pep talk. But here I am. I know everything will not be perfect. But I want to spend this imperfect life with you."

Paige is speechless from Lincoln's sentiments to her. She still feels the damage from their breakup. "Lincoln…I…"

Just at that moment, the house band plays the song "Girls" by The 1975 in their nostalgic songs segemnt. And most of the attendees get into the jam, including Lincoln, who is humming the lyrics and bopping his head to the beat.

 _Bite your face to spite your nose_

 _Seventeen-and-a-half years old_

"The 1975…good times," Lincoln utters. "Glad they're still playing." Lincoln has nothing to break the ice.

Gladly, Paige does. "Want to jam?"

With that, the two joins the crowd as they sing along to the chorus.

 _They're just girls breaking hearts_

 _Eyes bright, uptight, just girls_

 _But she can't be what you need if she's 17_

 _They're just girls_

 _They're just girls_

As if the lyrics could not get more on-the-nose, Lincoln spots a familiar face from the crowd. She has a bright complexion, brown hair and blue dress. "Cristina?"

Then, to his left, he spots a girl with Latina facial features, raven hair and purple couture. "Ronnie Anne?"

And the cherry on top is a girl with Asian complexion, brown hair and orange headband.

"They're just girls?"


	18. Epilogue 2: The Settling

The song keeps playing. From an innocent hymn about wooing, it becomes a warning sign for Lincoln as the girls he liked from school gather to the dance floor. Fear seeps in him. And his nerves get the best of him.

Paige sees the concern as she snaps him out. "Lincoln…Lincoln…"

On her fifth snap, Lincoln finally gets on his senses. "Ohh…hehe…I…I had thought of something…and it flew away…hehe…"

"Are you okay?" she asks.

"Okay? Yeah, sure," the then-21-year-old boy assures. "It's just…I'm speechless that I saw you again." His shrugs do not help his defense.

"Lincoln, is it because I'm too extreme for your test? Look, it's weird that we love videogames together, and I soon discovered you hate that much extreme sports. But…"

As Paige gives her defense, Lincoln eventually ignores her, making her words blur to the background. His attention now is whether or not he gets spotted by those other girls. His throats run dry. His heartbeat increases in every minute. And his mind is offset.

Again, Paige snaps him back to focus. "Lincoln, did you hear what I just said?"

At that moment, Lincoln sees Ronnie Anne, Cristina and the new girl from the episode "White Hare" about to go to their direction. "Paige, come with me!" With that, he takes Paige by the hand and drags her away from the dance floor and towards the food kiosks.

"Lincoln, what are you taking me?!"

"Just trust me on this! I'll explain everything." Finally, he brings her to a stall where they sell finger food like nachos, fries, pork rinds and other fried treats. They sit on a nearby picnic table, safe and sound.

But the aroma from the food does not remove the feeling that Paige had on Lincoln. "Lincoln, tell me honestly. Did you listen to what I said?"

With a gulp on his throat, he says, "Well…yeah…I did…"

"Lincoln…?" At that point, Paige raises her eyebrow, signifying that she knows Lincoln is bluffing.

Finally, he confesses, "No, I wasn't."

"Lincoln, was I so complicated to you?"

"No, no, of course you aren't. It's all my fault. I should be blamed for this."

"I don't need you to admit. I need you to say what can we do. It's just that…that…I've begin thinking about our break. So…"

"What about it?"

"I just thought that maybe another try?"

"You want us to be together again?"

"Yeah. I've been thinking about you so much. I mean yes, you screwed up. But there are many times when you actually tried. And I, I'm so happy that you did."

"Especially the spoiled spaghetti that I cooked on your place?"

"Yeah, that too. But to be fair, I should have told you to place it on a pan." She then laughs.

"But hey, I already know a lot of spaghetti recipes."

"So, are you ready?"

"For round two?"

"Yeah…I mean if you want. If you don't, it's fine. I guess I tried. I might just go back to my job at the studio."

"Oh, still at the photography business?"

"Yes. But I got stuck on the studio. I didn't get much on the out-of-town shoots."

"I see."

"Yeah…"

"Not much for me."

"Ohh…okay…"

"Yeah…"

Silence then comes. The two stare at each other, reminiscing their moments together.

"So are we just gonna stare at each other forever?"

"I don't know. It's better here."

"Are you picking up on my anti-social tactics?"

"I don't know. Maybe?"

Paige chuckles. "Oh Lincoln, I just can't get those times off my mind."

"But, I don't get it. If you're so serious about our relationship, why did you quit on me?"

"I…just feel that there's something else in my life that I haven't done. So, I really hesitated…"

Just hearing her say her inner sentiments that almost ruins his perception on their relationship, Lincoln tries to hold his grudge and just understand her. Needless to say, he has the same view. "Me too." He senses the guilt of having to meddle with Paige's feeling about him. So he gives this testament, "But I don't regret our friendship. I don't feel it a waste."

Paige takes a deep breath after hearing his thoughts. She is speechless of Lincoln's faithfulness on their relationship. There is so much to say, but she just feels pleased with Lincoln cherishing that moment. But she changes the topic, "Uhmm did you drag me away from the crowd just to say that?"

"Oh, no, of course not."

"Then why?"

Lincoln huffed before he reveals his fears to Paige. "Alright. Do you remember about Ronnie Anne?"

"The Hispanic girl from the city? Yeah, I still remember her."

"Okay, she's at the crowd right now. And I cannot bear. Or I don't know how to even confront her."

"Why would you be afraid of that? It's not like you two had a thing or two."

Nervously, he admits, "We actually did. But it was before you and me. Before there was us. When I was just a clueless and unwise kid, who screwed up one friendship with a girl who I thought was cool. And to mend it, I actually kissed her in front of many people. I mean I failed impressions with other girls. I mean there's Cristina. I mean I like her. But I had to release a video admitting my crush to her. It's a long story. But she stayed a distance from me. Then, there's the new girl...Kind of embarrassed now since a lot of the kids are teasing us. 'Ooohh Lincoln, you blushing' I don't know. It was just embarrassing until middle school…"

But he soon discovers that when he admitted his fears, Paige is chuckling at some bits. "Sorry…it's just…"

"You're laughing at me being embarrassed?"

"No. Of course not…" But Paige's pouring of laughter really shows.

"Can't tell with that one."

"Lincoln, sorry, I just thought not to burst it out. Or I might be having a hard time. Sorry."

"You were saying?"

"Okay, I'm good. All I want to ask is why be afraid of them?"

"I don't know. They meant a lot to me?"

"But you also know that you want a second chance on this relationship right?"

"Yeah…You're right." He then looks upon Paige's face. Her complexion radiates more than what surrounds him. Not even the music perturbs him, even as it moves to the next number: "A Sky Full of Stars" by Coldplay. One thing strikes him: should he really commit to Paige? Because he knows that if says yes, there will be no turning back like he did before. With that hesitance still on his luggage, Lincoln feels the urge to reconsider. But he is unsure how he should tell to Paige. Thus, he says to her, "Uhmmm I'll just check out Clyde to see if he's, you know, still there. He's my ride."

"Well, okay," she replies.

"Great. I'll be right back!" After that, Lincoln swiftly scoots back to the crowd.

His nerves climb. And his thoughts are unfocused. He thinks a moment in the partying audience would help. But the transition to EDM from the sounds does not help him. He finally sticks to his fib excuse to find Clyde.

As he squeezes into the crowd, Lincoln feels rather lost in the middle of a raving sea, ravaged by a raging electronic sound. A push to another, he tries to find his way. That is when he coincidentally finds Ronnie Anne from the crowd. "Ronnie Anne!"

"Lincoln Loud?" she answers, but her voice sounds inaudible from the loud music.

"It's good to see you!" Lincoln's answer is also imperceptible.

"What?!"

"It's good to see you!"

"I can't hear you! Let's go out of here!" She takes Lincoln's hand and drags him out of the crowd. Eventually, she brings him to a nearby table. "Okay, now I can hear you."

Despite his recent hesitation, Lincoln cannot help but feel excited to reunite with one of his best female friends, "Ronnie Anne! It's good to see you!"

But as he is about to embrace her, Ronnie Anne declines, "Halt it, Lincoln. Still not a hugger."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. I can't hug that much though, except with the girls and my family."

"Okay, got it. How's your internship? I heard you met with a lot of famous rich guys."

"Yes, it was good. But it sucks. They just find a way to make selling stocks boring."

"At least you earned a lot in the business?"

"I guess there's that. I can't say anything bad about Zara buying stocks from me."

"So…how's life?"

"Oh, it was good. It was nice. But someone was already wooing me."

Lincoln is shocked at that revelation. It is obvious that he still harbors the fact that Ronnie Anne has an impossible-to-like personality. So, this news surprises him. "Oooh, who that might be?"

"Nah. Just an artist who saw me at a gallery. He said I had the 'passion on my job'. He invited to dinner one time. I thought it would be bad. But he was actually nice. I mean he really was interested in me. I can't say 'yes' now, but I see something."

"Yeah, I can tell from the look of your face."

"Hey, this face you like as well, dummy."

"Well, I never said I dislike your face." Lincoln chuckles.

But Ronnie Anne is more interested in his story. "So, how about you?"

"Well…there's this thing I'm thinking now. About her. But I'm nervous."

"About Paige?"

Lincoln nods.

"Okay, you chatted to me about your breakup. You tried. It didn't work. You moved on. What now?"

"She wants us to restart all over again."

"So, what's wrong about it?"

"I don't know. I just feel that I…I might screw it up again. I mean I don't expect it to be perfect. I just thought that I would sound like a hypocrite if I don't mean…"

But his obvious nervous-wracking moment leads Ronnie Anne to slap him to snap him out. "Chill Lincoln. You're nervous. It's normal. Now, do you really love Paige?"

In full integrity, Lincoln nods his face.

* * *

Back at Paige, she orders a platter of cheesy fries with overloaded toppings while waiting for Lincoln. Her assumptions of Lincoln ditching her creep slowly.

That is until Lincoln arrives, this time more confident. "Paige, again from what I said, I want to spend this imperfect life with you." He then nervously reaches his hand to her. He is not expecting a response.

But after a moment, Paige holds his hand.

Lincoln looks at this delightfully. "Shall we?"

She nods her head. And off the night they walk home.


	19. Another Page-Turner 1: The Break

Rain falls on Royal Woods at this time. The gray skies seem to set the mood for Lincoln, as he gets home, dreary, soaking and sad. When he steps inside, he drops his bag and his hat. The 11-year-old tries to catch his breath from the coolness of the weather and the verge of his tears. From the back of his mind, he could hear the song "All Out of Love" by Air Supply playing.

Hopeless and undeterred, messy and rugged, Lincoln falls to the couch and buries his head on its tight cushions. He still hears that hopeless song in his head. But in reality, it is actually playing from the Loud's stereo system.

"Ohh why…" Lincoln groans like a hopeless romantic. His world is crushed, just as the song strongly implies on its somber notes.

Eventually, Lori calls upon him, but not noticing him wailing. "Lincoln, toast sandwiches are on the table. Thought you might like."

"What's the point of eat if your feelings try to eat you up?" he replies, though inaudibly, due to him burying his face on the couch.

"Why's that song playing?" Lori then picks up the remote and stops the song from playing. "There. Need the positive energy."

Lincoln still wails. It instantly becomes the only noise inside the Loud house that Lori finally gives attention to.

"Lincoln? Anything wrong?" she asks.

But Lincoln keeps wailing.

"Lincoln?"

He keeps sobbing.

Lori wants to intervene. But she remembers that her brother warned her (and the rest of his sisters) about trying to help him fix his problems. This was a result from the scuffle that the sisters had caused previously involving Paige. In fact, beyond the incident, Lori does not receive any news regarding him and Paige, nor does she asks anything about her. That is how she keeps her promise, for the moment. Nevertheless, being the eldest, she tries to reach out to him, "Look Lincoln, I literally know you might not listen to my advice. Or you could just ignore me or any of us. But we'll try not to ruin it for you. Just let me know what's going on. I promise, we'll help you."

Hearing that, Lincoln rises from the couch, with his tears messing up his face, and embraces Lori from the abdomen. And eventually, he returns to wailing.

Lori tries to comfort him with massaging his back and patting his head. "There, there. It's okay Lincoln. Take your time. And you can tell me when you're ready to speak."

"It's too stupid," Lincoln tearfully replies.

"It's alright," Lori assures. "I literally know stupid. Believe me. We learned the hard way."

Realizing what she is talking about, Lincoln trusts on Lori's counsel. He finally opens up, "Well, it all started out at school

 _Flashback_

After taking a shot with her on the arcade section of Gus' Games N' Grub, Lincoln grooms himself with a suaver getup and carries a bouquet of flowers with him, in order to make an immediate move to woo Paige. He shows up in school with that style, which prompts him to be the butt of every passersby's joke. Nevertheless, he brushes them off.

"Here we go, Lincoln Loud," he says to himself, "One small step from man, a giant leap for manhood. This time, I'm an adult."

Lincoln sets foot on his classroom, expecting that Paige will be there before classes start. He makes a grand entrance and suavely says, "Hey lady, why don't we spend this morning in coffee for two?"

But, to his surprise, she is not found in the classroom. In fact, the classroom is empty so early.

Immediately, the 11-year-old searches for Paige around the school. "Paige! Paige!" He searches around the halls, in some empty classrooms, in the library, in the gym and outside on the soccer field. But he cannot find her anywhere.

Lincoln ends up rugged and tired, even as early as 7:41 AM. But eventually, as he trudges to the little hills on the field, he spots Paige. Immediately, he rushes towards her. But, he makes a screeching halt when he sees her with a company of girls. Lincoln never knew that Paige has this circle of friends. She implied previously that she indeed has several friend but never told how many. It seems that an entire class was with her.

Not wanting to embarrass them both because of his getup, Lincoln immediately hides behind a trash can. "That was close."

Without any choice, he overhears the girls gossiping. But his attention turns to when one of the girls asks to Paige.

" _Hey Paige, who was that cute boy in the pizza place?_ "

" _What cute boy? There are a lot of cute boys there._ "

Lincoln recognizes that voice to come from Paige. When he hears her mention about "cute boys", his eyes twitch in anxiety.

" _So, you met a lot of cute boys there?_ "

" _Don't be silly. I see a lot of cute boys, but not met them or talk to them._ "

At least with that statement, Lincoln gets a sigh of relief.

" _So, who's the guy with the white hair?_ "

" _What?!_ "

" _Come on. We see you two playing on that Dance Dance Battle game._ "

" _Lincoln?_ "

Upon the mention of his name, Lincoln cannot help but feel delighted as butterflies in his stomach start to fly around.

" _He really is cute_ ," Paige implies. "And fun to be with."

" _So, is it the two of you?_ "

"What? I cannot say yes yet. He is just a good friend.

When Paige mentions that friend-only implication, Lincoln's expectations shatter, and the butterflies inside him died out. His eyes wide open says it all.

" _Always that cool dude who topped at most of the games in the arcade. Though I beat him many times. Maybe because he always let me win._ "

" _But, are you two…you know…together?_ "

" _What?! No. I cannot we're good now. I don't want to let that ruin my friendship with him. Besides, there's a lot of time to spend and just play air hockey all day._ "

At that point, Lincoln feels falling on a downward spiral. His premature feelings stir with a topping of upset and disappointment.

The school bell rings abruptly, which signals for the girls and the rest of the students to go to their classrooms and start classes.

But for Lincoln, his mood is entirely plagued with disappointment. For all the effort to look cool, buy flowers and make an eye-catching impression to his growing "love" to Paige, he feels the huge blow to his emotions.

"Well…that was it…" Lincoln utters. "I am just a friend to Paige." Dramatically but unintentionally, he lets himself drop to the trash can behind him as a sign of quitting. "That's it, Lincoln Loud. The girl of your dreams has permanently placed you in the zone of no return, and only regards you as someone platonic." He then lays the bouquet to his chest, as if he is laying on his grave.

But to add more to the upset, a maintenance worker picks up the garbage can and loads to another garbage container without noticing Lincoln in it. Nonetheless, Lincoln never minds on being dumped to the curb and carried away hopelessly; his mind is still on being friendzoned.

 _End of Flashback_

After Lincoln narrates the entire story, Lori tries to pick up the pieces since she was also carried away by Lincoln's complicated love story. "Let me literally get this straight, Lincoln, you think Paige friendzoned you from the way she said?"

Lincoln nods his head while he tries to hold his tears.

"Would you think that it may be a misinterpretation or something?"

"Lori?!"

"I am trying literally my hardest to understand. Look Lincoln, if Paige only thinks of you as a friend, well it's a good position."

"Why is that a good position?"

"Because there'll be time for you to know each other. You're still kids. So there's still time for you to get to know each other. And maybe, you might have another chance."

Lincoln breathes heavily to clear out his nasal passageway, so he can speak clearly. "I guess so." But he lets his tears flow continually.

Lori comforts him more. "There. There. You know what, why don't we snatch the ice cream in the fridge and watch any movie you like. What do you say?"

"Maybe not in the mood," Lincoln sulks.

"Come on," his sister insists. "Any movie. Your pick. I would watch anything you pick."

"Really?"

"Literally really."

Later on, Lincoln and Lori gather scoops of rocky road ice cream and tune in to the 2013 _Evil Dead_ remake. Admittedly, the two nearly sleep halfway through. But Lincoln is able to wake up on the second half of the movie. As the movie plays, Lincoln opens his online messaging app and looks up the chat option to see one particular person online.

Swiftly, he selects that person and opens up to chat to her. " **Long time, Santiago...** "

As he sends the message, his goosebumps grow, realizing that he is opening up again to one of his most unique friends in school. Lincoln never feels this way when talking with the girl who kept pestering him before. But, here he is, naïve and nervous on thinking how she would respond.

A minute passes, and Lincoln spots the moving three-dotted icon, indicating that she is typing. Sweat suddenly runs on his forehead, his throat dries up and his pulse goes quicker.

Lincoln is in a nerve-wracking experience, until Ronnie Anne Santiago replies: "Y **es, a long time, lame-o. What makes you drop by?** "

 _To be continued_


	20. Another Page-Turner 2: The Trigger

It has been all night messaging for Lincoln and Ronnie Anne. Lincoln opens up about his bad experiences in school and even shares his passion on Ace Savvy comics. On the other hand, Ronnie Anne tells Lincoln about the quirky happenings in her family and the several odd jobs that they made her do. They quickly relate or, if not, sympathize with each other's stories.

Their conversation feels timeless for them. As for any millennial trend, these two children have their phones glued to their eyes for nearly five hours.

Lincoln then suddenly finds out on his phone's clock that it was 1:43 AM; the two really have messaged to each other for about five hours.

Ronnie Anne types, " _What time is it there…?_ "

Since he waited for a friend to catch him when he fell, Lincoln shrugs the time off and replies back, " _Time to wake up Lori. She's snoozing on the couch. Fell asleep while watching Evil Dead._ "

Ronnie Anne quickly reacts, " _Was it really boring?_ "

" _it's not, I just prefer the first one_ ," Lincoln replies.

" _Me too_." She then takes five more minutes to type in her next message.

To save the time, Lincoln readies for bed with toothbrushing and readying his pajamas. Before he could go back to his phone, he pauses. He has this in his head, " _What am I doing? I cooled off with Paige. And now, I am rebounding myself to Ronnie Anne? Is this even right? Lincoln, you get a hold of yourself._ " He then discretely voices out his thoughts, "You are making a move to Ronnie Anne. We are just friends! That's it! But why do I feel something else out of Ronnie Anne?" Panic comes out of his mouth. "This is not good, Lincoln. You should not feel something from Ronnie Anne!"

Then, in a crazy turn of events, he slaps his right cheek. "You shut up!" Then, he slaps the other cheek. "No, you shut up!" Then, another slap and another slap and another and another. And more exchanges of "You shut up!" Lincoln tries to snap himself out of the butterflies that circle in his stomach. For him, it is the start of his experience on battling prepubescent conditions, or another thing called puberty.

Unable to control his feelings, he literally crawls himself to the couch to get his phone. He keeps uttering, "No, you shut up!" Luckily, Lori is unable to her the commotion from such a deep sleep.

Lincoln snatches his phone and sees the last message that Ronnie Anne sent: " _You know what's scarier? Bobby's rare times on being aggressive. He becomes deadly evil._ " He brings out a chuckle from Ronnie Anne's clever wordplay.

" _Lame right?_ " she replies.

Lincoln immediately types a response, " _Nahh it's not._ "

" _Well, how would I not trust you? You're the lame-o, lame-o._ "

Lincoln cannot help but agree on that. " _You declared me a lame-o. So I am the lamest lame-o you ever lamed on._ "

Ronnie Anne eagerly replies to him, " _You know I don't use those despicable text icons. Just to let you know, I was laughing out loud that Bobby heard me from the other room. He's jealous._ "

Lincoln messages her with ten laughing emojis.

" _I've gotta go now though. We've talked for the whole night_."

Feeling the surge of the moment, Lincoln wishes to "develop" his friendship more with Ronnie Anne. At every closing second, he is left with two choices: leave her alone and chat with her next time, or have the guts to initiate a video chat with her, every means for them to have a truly intimate conversation. Lincoln is spurred with gut punches, which leads him to the very solution.

" _Yeah. Hey, wanna talk next time?_ "

" _Talk, like message each other?_ "

" _No, I meant really talk. Call or video each other or something?_ "

" _We did video-call each other, right?_ "

When Ronnie Anne reminded him of that time during her first visit (and subsequent stay) in the Casagrande's apartment in the city, Lincoln twitches in speechlessness. He thinks of better ways to find a loophole from this mistake. Thus, he presses the keys on his phone at the expense of his nerves, but he quickly backspaces them.

Thankfully, Ronnie Anne replies, " _If you want to video-call or FaceTime like that, it's fine with me. I always go online every night. Only if I don't have any sessions at my RPG._ "

With that, Lincoln sighs in relief. He finally relaxes his fingers from being twitchy and then types, " _Fair enough. I'll just message you, then call you when I need._ "

"Cool. See you around, lame-o."

Seeing that she is about to type an around response, Lincoln corresponds, " _Yeah, see ya! You know, it was great talking to you. I really need a friend by my shoulder. Here's to us._ "

But after he sends the message, Lincoln realizes it could mean a vaguely intimate response. He twitches again for a somewhat texting mistake. Luckily, Ronnie Anne goes offline after he sends out that reply, and she has never read the message.

"I need to straighten myself," Lincoln utters to himself.

* * *

The next day, Lincoln tries to be casual about himself from the recent dumping by Paige, and the redevelopment of his feelings with Ronnie Anne. Untimely, it is a Saturday; so, he will be seeing a lot of his sisters, and they will be observing his behavior.

" _Hiya muskrat! Hahahaha!_ " Mr. Coconuts greets him.

"Would you cut it out, Luan?" Lincoln insists, "And why did you call me a muskrat?"

" _Why I just had a mousey feeling this morning that I need to stretch out my words._ "

"By calling me muskrat?"

" _Well, I called Lucy a porcupine and Lana a gopher. But Lola, she was indeed a rat. Haha! Get it?_ "

"Well, that at least makes sense."

At breakfast, Lincoln sneaks from under the table to check out if Ronnie Anne replies or has read his recent message. So far, there is no reply. But his nerves take a hike from the uncertainty.

Luna then notices him chatting on his phone. "Dude, you know the rule: no phones during meals."

"Luna, don't be a sneak!" Lincoln asserts.

Eventually, his other sisters notice him having brought his phone to the table.

"Hey look, Lincoln has a phone!" Lana calls it out, leading the rest of the sisters to gang up on him.

"Guys, it's nothing! Something important for me to respond!" Lincoln defends himself.

"Something important? Like literally what?" Lori corners him.

"Maybe it's another girlfriend!" Lola scolds.

Lincoln then stutters, "Yeah…I mean no. Not yes, yes. No, yes!"

"What is it really, bro?" Luna questions him.

Lynn then snatches his phone and reads the message dashboard. "Let me see…He was about to type 'Good morning'…"

Lincoln is able to snatch his phone back to his hands. "Give me that! No reading of private messages!"

"Wait, so it is another girlfriend?" Lola deduces, leading the girls to change their tone and now to become intrusive to Lincoln.

"AWWW! Lincoln's having another girlfriend!"

But Lincoln emerges out of his sisterly pile and deals with them. "Guys! We talked about this! No intruding in my personal life until I am good with everything. And that is final!"

"We just can't help it, Lincoln," Leni says. "We're girls. We always talk about boys."

But her statement raises eyebrows from her sisters.

"Wait, you guys don't always talk about boys?"

Lori brushes that off and tells Lincoln, "Look Lincoln, say all you want. But we are your sisters. We will always be literally mindful of your life."

"Yeah bro!" Lynn agrees. "For some time, you might need a little advice from us."

"I said, not in the moment," Lincoln persistently declares.

With that, the girls agree with him, and they scoot off. "Alright, soothe yourself."

After they leave him and return to the table, Lincoln breathes a sigh of relief and walks to the couch to check out Ronnie Anne's messages. So far, she has not replied, nor has she gone online.

Lincoln cannot bear the feelings that slowly grow in him.

So, he shares this with Clyde via call.

" _Hey buddy, what's up?_ " Clyde answers his call.

"Kind of uneasy, Clyde."

" _Why? What's wrong? Did you get dizzy or something?_ "

"No, it's Ronnie Anne. I think I love her."

But in an untimely manner, Lori overhears what Lincoln said, surprising her.


	21. Another Page-Turner 3: The Missing

After his phone conversation with Clyde, Lincoln finds himself on his bed, unable to sleep. His emotions are up to its uncontrollable. One may blame early prepubescence for the escalation of his emotions. But it is merely crossing the line of love and infatuation that falls to that category.

Lincoln is still an innocent kid with a lot to learn and a lot to understand. But his early teenage curiosity gets the best of him. And his sisters are not helping matters either.

Ergo, Lori, after hearing the fact that Lincoln is "in love with" Ronnie Anne, feels the joy in heart, again. She could almost squirm aloud from this news. Though, she, along with her sisters, tends to squirm whenever she hears that Lincoln is meeting/or in love with another girl. But much like Lincoln, her expressions are nearly uncontrollable that she has to wait for everyone else to sleep to blurt all her squealing.

"YES! YES! LITERALLY YES! Lincoln is in love with Ronnie Anne! I'm the proudest sister ever!"

Her squealing sort of shakes the Loud House that it distracts Mr. and Mrs. Loud from getting a good night's rest.

"Ughh…is Lori squealing again?" Rita utters to her husband.

"Probably won a one-year supply of chocolate…" Lynn Sr. mutters while he is at deep sleep.

Rita groans, trying to get back to sleep.

Lori keeps squealing. But for some reason, even with thin walls inside the house, her squealing does not reach upstairs.

* * *

Back at Lincoln, he browses his phone again, waiting for Ronnie Anne to go online. To that point, Ronnie Anne has yet to read Lincoln's last message: " _Yeah, see ya! You know, it was great talking to you. I really need a friend by my shoulder. Here's to us._ " Lincoln is afraid of what Ronnie Anne might think of this message. For him, it sounds more cavalier than friendly. His worry nerves get the best of him; he could not tell if it is simply worrying or falling in love again with a girl who bullied him in his school. Nevertheless, he just needs a friend.

He mumbles to himself, "Ronnie Anne, if there's any way you could go online now, please let it be now. Please!"

Until now, she has yet to go online in the messaging app, much to Lincoln's frustration.

Lincoln tries his best to bring himself to sleep, to no avail. He tries a lot of sleeping positions, but they do not work. He beats himself in the head, but it does not work. He attempts to sleep comfortably on the floor, but it does not work. He uses Lisa's knockout ray, but it does not work. And he hits himself with a pile of comic books on his head, but it does not work. All of his attempts to sleep do not work. (Though, five minutes of sleep counts as a success for him.)

This brings the absolute frustration for Lincoln that he wants to burst out, but could not, due to others hearing him. So, he screams all of his frustrations to his pillows. "UGHHHHHHHHHH! Why can't I sleep?! Ronnie Anne Santiago, please get out of my head!"

After that venting, he drops himself back to bed, still hopeless. He then shifts his to his right to see his cellphone with the screen faced down. Lincoln is unsure if he should attempt to check out Ronnie Anne or not. His escalating feelings are the main causes why he cannot sleep. So, falling for her would really get in the way. Nevertheless, Lincoln never blinks twice, and he snatches his phone to check back on the messaging app. To his absolute surprise, at 3:24 AM, Ronnie Anne Santiago is online. He is unsure if she really is online or she just left her messaging application active.

To confirm, he messages her: " _Hey…_ " He waits for the next eight minutes to wait if she replies or not, or if the app confirm to have "Seen" the message or not.

But judging by the three-dotted moving icon, Ronnie Anne has not only seen the message, but is replying to it.

" _Still up, ey?_ " she replies.

" _Yeah dunno why_ ," Lincoln immediately replies.

" _Let me guess? Coffee._ "

" _You know I am not a fan of coffee. But I guess so._ "

" _That makes sense, being awake by coffee without drinking coffee._ "

" _How about you? Why are still up this late?_ "

" _Finishing my game. Trying to finish an entire level of Splinter Cell. Didn't look at the time though_."

" _Oh, haven't tried playing Splinter Cell._ "

" _You should. It's kinda fun._ "

" _Next time. I have a lot of things going on in my head._ "

" _Like what?_ "

Lincoln is unable to answer her question. It almost feels like he is concerned for being confronted of his true motives: to find company from a true opposite like Ronnie Anne. He can feel his finger twitching, trying to find answer before it is too late for her to reply. There are a lot of loopholes available for him to pick. But he could not find any. Instead, Lincoln answers, " _I had a nightmare._ "

Immediately, Ronnie Anne replies, " _A nightmare, you say?_ "

Confidently, Lincoln replies, " _Yes._ "

" _Would you like to talk about it?_ "

" _I think I would like to voice it out than keep it to myself._ "

" _Do you want me to call? Or you call me?_ "

" _I'll call you._ "

With that arrangement, Lincoln picks up his laptop and opens the messaging app from there. He switches on the built-in camera and dials to Ronnie Anne's account. While waiting for her to respond, he makes cocoa for himself. At that period, Lori must have retreated to the bedroom. But Lincoln does not mind it and takes his hot mug to his room for a sip. He places his cocoa beside his laptop that was placed on his desk.

Speaking of which, Ronnie Anne picks up Lincoln's call, and they properly set their video-call.

"Hey Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln happily greets his best friend outside Royal Woods.

The 11-year-old sees the young senorita lying on her bed, looking towards the camera lens of her phone. " _Lame-o, this is kinda new. Calling me in the middle of the night._ "

"Well, I couldn't blame the weather here."

" _Is it cold there?_ "

"Oh yes, it definitely is."

" _Then why I don't see you shivering?_ "

"Maybe you just don't feel me shivering."

" _Should I really feel your skin shivering?_ "

"Maybe…" Lincoln stutters from that statement.

" _How are you?_ "

"Great. Just great…after that nightmare. Maybe I should not have taken coffee."

" _I thought you're not a fan of coffee?_ "

"I am not. But it doesn't mean I couldn't drink coffee. Big difference."

" _Alright. Soothe yourself_."

At that point, Lincoln feels the need to extend conversation even more. His sight of Ronnie Anne triggers his attraction more and more. He could not explain how much he wants to bond with Ronnie Anne. But, seeing the level of their friendship (or relationship), he really someone reliable, other than Clyde. (Or someone to love.)

"It was terrible you know. Losing someone when they are being consumed by figurative monsters. Yes, that's how my nightmare went."

" _What do you think that made you have that nightmare?_ "

"I don't know…"

" _I browsed some of my mother's books. Then, I stumble upon this book about the mind and whatever. And I look upon it since Bobby had nightmares. It was said that nightmares might be caused by some worries. Or maybe a wide range of emotions._ "

Lincoln has his eyes twitch when Ronnie Anne might uncover his true expressions.

She then asks from her end, " _What are you feeling right now?_ "

Lincoln, stammering, is unable to answer. He feels he is cornered.

Seeing him troubled, Ronnie Anne asks again, " _Lincoln, hello?_ "

But again, the 11-year-old Loud is unable to answer.

" _Lincoln, how can I help you if you are not answering? Just be honest and tell me what are you feeling?_ "

At the top of his lungs (or emotions), Lincoln finally blurts but mumbles out, "I think I miss you…"

" _What?_ "

Lincoln then reiterates slowly but surely. "I. Think. I. Miss you. Ronnie Anne."

" _Well, yes, it's natural. We're from pretty distant places. So…yeah…_ " The tone of her voice there is rather dry, as if she is also concealing some truth. " _Well, you got me, lame-o. I guess I miss you too. I kinda miss hanging out and playing around with you. You are one of the top things I miss in Royal Woods._ "

Just hearing her say that brings shivers to Lincoln's spine. Never has he heard this from the commonly mean-spirited Ronnie Anne. But he shed light on who Ronnie Anne truly is. "Well, I guess we miss each other."

" _Kind of feel alone here in the city, Lincoln. I did made friends. But I'm still alone in the end._ "

Out of his upcoming teenage anxiety, Lincoln asks, "What if we see each other personally? Would that be good?"

Needless to say, Ronnie Anne is speechless.


	22. Another Page-Turner 4: The Anticipation

Their conversation go on from there, dodging the topic about seeing each other.

Two days later after their video chat, Lincoln is very anxious as to what and how will Ronnie Anne react. The 11-year-old has his stomach churning every time he thinks about Ronnie Anne or even their previous conversations.

A concerned Clyde notices this every time they go on breaks together.

"You know what Clyde, what if John is right? What if all we need is love?" Lincoln randomly asks.

"Lincoln, you have been acting queasy for a while," Clyde says. "Are you going through something that makes you quote The Beatles?"

"Nothing, it's just…a thing…I have been thinking about," Lincoln defends. "It may be the inner feelings. Glad we haven't gone through that lesson yet in science class."

But Clyde is becoming more alarmed with Lincoln's paranoia. "Lincoln, think about the words you are saying! A Beatles quote? Chapter 9 in the human body? 'All You Need is Love'?!" He then concludes, "There's only one thing that sums this up, my friend."

"What is it?"

"Infatuation, Lincoln. Also known as 'falling in love with a girl when it is generally not love'. Lincoln, it is the emotions flowing in you that cause you to go goo-goo in the brain. There must be something that leads to this."

"I don't know, Clyde. Sometimes after hoping for the one you liked the most, you have to find it on which you rely on the most."

Hearing this makes Clyde's eyes twitch in bewilderment. "You don't mean…"

"Yes, Clyde. How could I not fall for Ronnie Anne Santiago…"

"That's even worse." Clyde then faces Lincoln in attempt to snap him out. "Lincoln, look at me. You have found the right one. But you can't settle for another one, if that first right one rejected you or something. You can't be like that."

"I can't help it, Clyde. I'm in love." Lincoln goes for a woozy tone after that.

"This is bad. This is bad. I mean not bad but wrong."

"What can I say? _Lucky I'm in love with my…_ "

"What is the last thing you talked about?"

At that point, Lincoln has been spouting love-crazy lines as if he is in laughing gas. "A lot. We talked a lot. We love to talk about rabbits and school and family and our favorites."

Clyde evaluates his answer, using his frequent learnings from Dr. Lopez, and deduces that they have not yet crossed the friendship boundaries. "Okay, that's good. Basic friend-to-friend talk."

Lincoln then spouts, "Then we knew we needed each other."

When his best friend drops the ball, Clyde freezes in disbelief. His best friend crossed the friendship boundaries he has with Ronnie Anne. Clyde then tries to literally snap his friend out of it, "Lincoln! Know what you're saying! You're in love with Ronnie Anne, again! You can't do that! You said you like Paige!"

The white-haired 11-year-old can only spout in gibberish, if that is not enough love-crazed fiasco. "I have to see her!"

Clyde finally slaps his best friend's face, snapping him back to reality.

"Ouch! Clyde, what you do that for?!"

"Sorry buddy. Emergency. Had to snap you out for being girl-crazy over Ronnie Anne!"

"Wait, was I?"

"Uh-uh."

But just the mention of Ronnie Anne's name allows Lincoln to receive those butterflies in his stomach again. "Oh gosh, Ronnie Anne. I don't care if we're far away. We will meet someday."

This causes Clyde to palm his face in dismay. "What has happened to you Lincoln?"

* * *

After school, Clyde pushes his love-crazed best friend back to his house. The entire day, Lincoln has been awestruck of his interactions with Ronnie Anne that he wants more.

" _Can you feel the love tonight_ , Clyde?"

"Alright buddy, I know you want to see Ronnie Anne again. But we have to take control of those emotions you have. It's for the best." He then drags Lincoln to his room and pushes him to his bed.

"What are the best things I can say about Ronnie Anne's face?"

Clyde shudders from the way Lincoln asks about it. He retrieves Lincoln's laptop, cellphone and walkie-talkie and places them inside a case. "That I fear. Sorry buddy."

But suddenly, Lori shows up from the open door. "What's literally going on here?"

Clyde shrieks, "L-L-Lori?!" But he is able to control his nosebleed tendencies by plugging tissue papers to his nostrils. "No-no! I'm not going to fall for that ever again!"

"What are you talking about Clyde?"

"No need to explain. Lincoln and I are busy."

"Busy what? Stealing his gadgets?"

Clyde then hides the case behind him, embarrassed that Lori has to witness that. "What? No, I'm helping him. He has gone cuckoo all day about…someone…"

"Cuckoo? You mean…?" Lori has then figured it out that Lincoln has fallen in love with Ronnie Anne, basing on his sudden conversations with her. "Hah! Lincoln and Ronnie Anne? Together?! AHHHH!" Lori squirms at this cuteness prospect. "LINCOLN AND RONNIE ANNE TOGETHER AGAIN! YAY!"

"Yeah, I wouldn't call that 'Yey', so if you mind, I'm trying to save my…"

Immediately, Lori grabs the handle of the suitcase from Clyde and tries to seize it from him. "Then, give me that."

The two then go on a tug-of-war scenario, where the suitcase is the rope and the two are trying to take it for themselves.

"Lori, no matter how much I like you, I can't let you ruin my best friend's life!"

"Quit it literally, Clyde! I have more responsibilities than you!"

"You don't understand!"

"I literally understand! I understand that you are blowing my brother's big hopes for true love!"

"Let go, Lori!"

"Let go, Clyde!"

It is a feud between the polar opposites, fighting it out who gets the better grip of the suitcase.

But in the midst of all this, Lincoln wakes up from having passed out over his love-crazed madness. "Lori? Clyde? What's going on here? And what's with fighting over a suitcase?"

"Nothing, buddy."

"We're just having a misunderstanding that Clyde cannot seem to literally understand!"

Then, another interruption comes in the form of a ring from Lincoln's phone. "Is that my phone inside the case?"

Lori and Clyde freeze when they hear Lincoln's phone ringing. They then open the case to reveal his cellphone buzzing. It is Ronnie Anne who is calling.

Lincoln retrieves his phone and answers it, "Hello Ronnie Anne?"

" _Hey Linc, how's the lame-o doing?_ " she answers from the other line.

"The lame-o's doing fine. I just saw Lori and Clyde in my room, so…"

" _Weird. What are they doing in there?_ "

"Well, I can't tell. I think they were fighting."

" _That same old Clyde, that's why._ "

"I guess so. What's up?"

" _Well, my mom told me to invite you and Lori for a quinceañera this Saturday. Bobby wants to introduce Lori to the clan._ "

"A quinceañera?"

" _It's like a birthday. It's a tradition here in the Casagrandes when the girl becomes 15. Too overblown if you ask me._ "

"I can see why…"

" _Hey, doesn't mean I don't like the celebration doesn't mean I don't want one. How dare you._ "

"I am just saying. I think it's great."

" _So, you two are coming?_ "

He then asks Lori, "Quinceañera in the Casagrandes…"

She shrieks in cheer when she hears about a quinceañera. She had been reading about it in blogs and magazines. It has been her longtime dream to go to one. Thus, she eagerly nods.

"That's a yes," Lincoln answers to Ronnie Anne.

" _Good. Well…_ "

"So, that means us too?"

" _What are you talking about?_ "

"You know? Us…meet?"

"Lame-o, of course, we're gonna meet."

Lincoln cannot help but feel anticipated at that prospect. He bites lips and squeezes his fists in excitement. He can easily imagine that moment when he shall see Ronnie Anne in a dress. It is all heavenly and wonderful just dancing around with her.

" _Lame-o? Lame-o? Lame-o!_ " Ronnie Anne snaps Lincoln out from daydreaming. "Are you there?"

"Yeah! Yeah! I'm still here!" Lincoln confirms.

"Okay. So…about that…"

Lincoln is indeterminate as to what Ronnie Anne is referring to. But he recalls their previous conversation and figures out what it is. "About your stuffed bear?"

" _I got it fixed. But I tucked in the cabinet of unused things._ "

"Why?"

" _I am not that a stuffed toy person._ "

"Well, take it from me. I still have Bun-Bun in my bed. And whenever I get scared, I just grab him and hug him."

" _You're pretty of a hugger, huh?_ "

"Of course. If you're in a family with ten sisters, you have to be a hugger."

" _I see. Well, see you in a while lame-o. I'll just prepare dinner here._ "

"Cool. Talk to you tonight."

" _Great! Bye!_ "

After Ronnie Anne drops the call, Lincoln feels relieved from their conversation.

But Clyde becomes against it. "Lincoln, did you know what you just did!"

"I am talking to my one true love. She hates me. And I love it," Lincoln utters woozily.

Because of that, Clyde slaps his own face in dismay. "Lincoln, I thought you like Paige!"

"I do. I do like Paige," Lincoln justifies. "But I love Ronnie Anne."

"Lincoln, get through your skull and look at what this entails. You can't like two people at the same time! It's a trap!"

"Relax Clyde, I can take care of it. We're just...good best friends."

"That sounds a lot different when you say it. I am just afraid for both of you."

"Ease it down, Clyde. Quinceañera isn't about us. Besides, what's the worst thing that could happen?"


	23. Another Page-Turner 5: The Family

"I said too much," Lincoln simply sighs when, along the road, he has to deal with his nagging sisters, who accompany him and Lori towards the quinceañera. He never would have guessed that Lori, also against her wishes (with Lincoln being the exception), has to bring her siblings along.

As per usual, they do their insane antics altogether in the car, gradually annoying Lori as she constantly distracted by them.

Lana plays around with Lincoln. "Hey Lincoln, maybe if get there, maybe we can gorge down on their mountain pile of tasty burritos and mouth-watering tacos!"

"Lana, the Casagrandes are not stereotypically Mexican," Lincoln stresses.

"I know, I know," Lana replies. "But they gotta have those burritos and tacos. Right?"

That turns a frown on Lincoln, made especially worse when Leni accidentally lets a balloon fly, and it sputters the helium and hits on Lincoln's face.

As a result, Lincoln squeezes his way out of sibling chaos and towards Lori. He pleads to his older sister, "Lori, can I switch seats with Luan?"

"No," Lori replies. But upon turning, she hits her face on Luan's elbow; the latter has her knees to the seat as she aims a water gun with paint towards Lynn and Lucy. "Luan, sit down!"

"I can't. Hue better get used to it. Hahaha! Get it?" she jokes around, just as Lynn splatters paint towards Luan, making the latter shield herself with the front seat.

"You won't hide anywhere, Luan!" Lynn teases her.

"What's going on back there?!" Lori turns her face towards her sisters. But Lynn accidentally fires red paint on Lori's face.

The latter sister then loses the wheel that sends Vanzilla into swerving and wobbling across their lane. Motorists honk on them from the outside. But on the inside, the rest of the playful Louds thinks of this as a fun amusement ride, much to Lori's horror.

She eventually steps on the brakes, which sends the siblings hitting their face to the front and squeezing themselves to the windshield. Red paint then explodes from the back, a déjà vu situation. Lori has had enough.

* * *

Later on, back on the road, after she confiscated their toy guns for the trip, Lori enforces a strict rule in the van. She also grants Lincoln's request on sitting in the front. "Okay, I only bring you twits because I want you to realize how very important this celebration is for me, for us and them. And because mom and dad told me to. So, I want all of us to literally be in proper behavior, starting from now on. Got it?" The rest of the sisters reluctantly agree to her demands.

Lincoln then takes a deep sigh of relief after gaining the best seat possible on the way to the Casagrande clan's quinceañera (or to put it frankly, to see Ronnie Anne once again in person).

"You okay there?" Lori asks him.

"Yeah definitely," Lincoln answers with a sign of relief. "At least there's no trouble around."

"Just hold on, and you'll see the love of your life." Lori then pats her hand on Lincoln's head.

"Lori, take it easy. Ronnie Anne is just a friend and nothing else."

Lori takes a chuckle out of it. "Oh friend, you say? Oh, we'll see about that." She then pushes the accelerator pedal and speeds towards the Casagrande's place.

* * *

The Louds arrive at sundown, three hours before the quinceañera. They simultaneously get off the van and run towards the Casagrande's residence, ignorant of the apartment's small scale.

"Wait, guys, literally hold your horses!" Lori tries to stop them, to no avail.

"You should have warned them that we won't fit inside their apartment," Lincoln says to her.

"Well, what do you expect with a bunch of excitable and ignorant siblings like ours?"

As the sisters arrive by the door, each of them try to reach for the doorbell but every sister dukes it out as who rises to the top and rings the doorbell.

Meanwhile, behind the door, Uncle Carlos senses a commotion from the outside. "It seems that we have unwanted outside."

Grandpa Hector suggests, "It seems that our customers from the bodega like our freshly served pork empanadas."

Grandma Rosa gets excited with that news. "Ooh, excited customers! Shall we serve some?"

But the commotion gets rougher when the Loud sisters accidentally bang on the door.

"I don't think those people are customers who like Grandma Rosa's empanadas," Maria Santiago suspects as the door keeps banging.

"What should we do?" Frida asks. "We cannot just force them in."

"I say we sneak from behind, using the alleyway, and then check out who are our visitors may be," Grandpa Hector suggests.

"Wait, and who's gonna sneak out?" Frida asks.

"I think Bobby's in good shape for that," Carlos replies.

The adult Casagrandes then discuss their options about their intrusive visitors behind the door. That is until CJ randomly walks in front of the door and waits for their arrival. "It must be the Louds. They are so loud." That claim catches the attention of the Casagrandes.

Just as then, the Loud sisters burst from the door and land towards the floor. Lori and Lincoln are just stunned by their sisters' first impression towards the Casagrandes.

Lori, embarrassed, greets the family, "Hi…Sorry we're late. We just had a little pullover…"

Grandma Rosa instantly welcomes them, "Bienvenido Louds! Welcome to our humble abode!"

"We were actually expecting you, and not somebody else," Grandpa Hector adds. "But it's good to see you!"

Bobby then rushes out of his room to hear the Louds' arrival. "Lori! Lori!"

"Boo-boo Bear!" Lori responds. And they both partake in a kiss-kiss-hug-hug moment, much to the slight disgust of the sisters and of Carl.

"Okay, take your smoochie-smoochie to the room," Carl insists. But he quickly reverts to flirting with the Loud sisters, "But hello there. If you ladies are available, feel free to call."

"What an exponentially diverse clan of Hispanics," Lisa remarks.

Maria Santiago interrupts the two lovebirds, "Bobby, aren't you gonna introduce us to the Louds?"

"Oh dang it!" Bobby remarks. "Where are my manners? Sorry. Mama, here are the rest of the Louds, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lucy, Lisa, Lily…I think the other one is Lola and the other is Lani…"

"It's Lana," Lana corrects him.

"Right! Lana Loud," Bobby continues. "Then Louds, the Casagrandes, my mom, Aunt Frida, Uncle Carlos, CJ, Grandpa Hector, Grandma Rosa and Grandpa Hector."

"Hello!" the rest of the sisters greets them.

"Wait, where's Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln asks, making the sisters tease him. "What? I was just asking."

"She's with Carlota, readying for quinceañera," Bobby answers.

Lincoln then scoots off to see her.

Bobby then asks his family, "So…can you show these girls around before we go out?"

* * *

While that is going on, Lincoln tiptoes towards Ronnie Anne's room, but she is not in there. The next option is to check Carlota's room. Luckily enough, the door to Carlota's room is half open that Lincoln tries not to sneak in. He just goes to overhear their chat.

"Just a few more rounds, and you will be the brightest star in Rita's quinceañera," Carlota brags.

"Okay Carlota," Ronnie Anne vehemently replies. "I get it. You don't have to overdress me like I'm the one having the quinceañera."

"Oh Ronnie Anne, just hold your breath and we will be done." Just as Carlota makes adjustments to the dress from the waist, Ronnie Anne feels being squeezed.

"Alright…alright!"

"Come on. Don't you want a good impression, especially to your escort Lincoln."

When Lincoln hears his name, his eyes twitch widely and his belly burns hot.

"Lincoln and I are good friends. I don't want anything to ruin that. And I'm not making myself posh in front of his face."

"Oh, self-denial. It looks cute on you. Besides, he's cute. You said so yourself."

"Me? Cute?" Lincoln gasps. He suddenly leans his hand on the open door that he falls over to the room, shocking Ronnie Anne and Carlota.

"Speaking of, glad you made it here on time," Carlota says.

But Ronnie Anne reacts otherwise, "Ahhh! Lincoln! Stop sneaking on me!" She then throws things at him for him to flee. "Get out!"

"Sorry! Sorry Ronnie Anne! Didn't mean to…" Lincoln pleads while he tries to look away from Ronnie Anne in a dress.

"Don't worry, amigo. She's just fully dressed," Carlota says, much to Ronnie Anne's chagrin.

Lincoln then gets out of the room and shuts the door. He could not help but be shocked at Ronnie Anne's rather hostile attitude. But he could almost imagine her in a wonderful dress. It is not exactly the first time he saw her in a dress. "Well, that was close."

The 11-year-old briefly takes a glimpse of his sisters bonding with the Casagrandes: Luna jams with CJ while Luan plays with him; Lynn is playing tag with Carl; Lucy follows Grandma Rosa as she shows her Dia de los Muertos memorabilia; Lana plays with pets Lalo and Sergio; Lisa consults with Carlos; and Lily bonds with Carlitos while being on the watch by Maria and Frida.

"Well, I guess everybody's getting along," Lincoln remarks to the readers.

Carlota then proceeds out of her room. "Go on, Lincoln. You may see her now."

Out of the blue, Bobby asks a favor from Carlota. "Carlota, Leni and Lola here need your help for proper dresses for quinceañera."

"No problem, Bobby," Carlota accepts. "Follow me girls." Leni and Lola proceeds as such.

While that is going on, Ronnie Anne calls her friend, "Lincoln, come here..."


	24. Another Page-Turner 6: The Festivity

Lincoln enters Carlota's room to get a glimpse of Ronnie Anne in a dress. His eyes cannot waver away from the sight of his loyal friend in a purple sleeveless chiffon dress. All of the aspects of the dress are against what Ronnie Anne is as a person. The girly-girl fashion senses seem too placid for the tomboyish senorita. But Lincoln looks at this sight like finding a priced treasure buried in the deep. He can see her unique radiance glowing around her.

On the other hand, Ronnie Anne never sees this and never notices Lincoln to be so attracted to her. "This is such a mess. Carlota really wants to decorate like I'm some kind of cake. I told her I can just take a suit. But no. She keeps insisting that I 'need to look so fabulous' 'cause I am going to be one of the people to dance at the center. Why go anywhere with this…?"

Lincoln abruptly compliments her, "You look nice."

Ronnie Anne fails to hear him. "What?"

"I said you look nice," Lincoln reiterates.

Ronnie Anne becomes speechless at what she had heard from Lincoln. For starters, it would be a needed affirmation for a girl to hear anyone, especially guys, to acknowledge her beauty. But for Ronnie Anne, it would be something she cannot handle. Right now, she hears those very words from her friend. She cannot bear the look on Lincoln's beam on her face when he says it. But deep down, she finds it comforting.

But after a minute of speechlessness, the senorita's default action is to slap him in the face unintentionally.

"Ouch! Ronnie Anne!" Lincoln shrieks.

"Sorry! Sorry! I'm so sorry Lincoln! Didn't mean it," Ronnie Anne apologizes to him.

But Lincoln is willing to be forgiving. "It's fine. You freaked out…maybe…"

"I guess so. So sorry! Does it hurt much?"

"You think?!"

Ronnie Anne then assists him to her bed to get more comfort. "Okay, just stay here. I'll get some ice." She walks out to fetch some ice for his cheek.

"Ronnie Anne, it's fine," Lincoln insists.

Later on, Ronnie Anne gives Lincoln an ice bag. And with two hours before the quinceañera, Lincoln takes the time to heal to avoid anyone noticing what Ronnie Anne did to him.

"You alright?" Ronnie Anne asks.

"I think so," Lincoln replies.

"Let's just pause for a moment. Don't want to stress you."

"Stress me? I think you're the one who is stressed."

"Me stressed? Well, wait till Carlota drapes you in a puffy suit and tight shoes."

"Why would she do that?"

"She placed you part of the occasion."

"What?!"

"That's right."

"So wait, I'm dancing?"

"You said 'yes', right? This is part of it."

"But I never said yes to dancing."

"Well, I never agreed to this dress. So we're even."

"Touché."

After that brief friendly argument, the two pause to let this moment sink in. Granted, it started with a slap to Lincoln's face. But for them, it is part of the course. Both parties wait for each other to speak up. But Lincoln's endless gleam and Ronnie Anne's unpreventable blushing hinder them from opening up.

Finally, Lincoln raises his point earlier. "Seriously Ronnie Anne, you are nice. It is great to see you in a dress, again." He waits for Ronnie Anne to reply, but her voice becomes dry.

Eight minutes later, Ronnie Anne finally speaks up, "I'm not used to it."

"I know. But you need it, right?"

As Lincoln glances on Ronnie Anne, she tries to hold back a smile, touched by Lincoln's affirmation. Shyly, she nods her head.

"You have to embrace it for once, Ronnie Anne. Carlota believes in you. Your family believes in you. I believe in you. So, might as well take the chance."

For that, Ronnie Anne understands what Lincoln is trying to convey. But she is still held back by her own entitlement. "Can it be the 'me' that they see in quinceañera?"

Lincoln then goes back to the drawing board for ideas to encourage Ronnie Anne to embrace her beauty. After a while, he proposes to her, "Alright, how about this? You keep up with your style right now. Just bear with me. Only for this night. Bear with dress and the dance. Just try for once. If you're that tough of a girl, then show it to me that you can be tough on keeping with the occasion. If you think the night was good, fine, you win. But if not, you can beat me up to pieces."

"Are you willing to do that?" Ronnie Anne asks.

"Of course I would."

"No, it sounds stupid. Why would I beat you for making me lose? It's another loss, you know?"

Lincoln then tests his way for Ronnie Anne to be convinced to get along with her dress. "Well, soothe yourself. It's your choice if you wish to stay as a grumpy purple chiffon cake while the rest of us are having fun."

Just from how he names her and his attitude upon saying it, Ronnie Anne feels a gradual urge to be angry at her friend. "What did you just call me?!"

"Should I repeat it?" Lincoln teases her. "Alright, grumpy…"

Immediately, Ronnie Anne throws a pillow at his face. She then swipes another people and beats his face with it. "Don't dare call me a cake! You know you're a lame-o on dropping names."

Seeing her harsh yet playful way on beating him up with a pillow, Lincoln plays along, "Well, it's certainly better than calling me Lame-o Loud."

"Oh really?" From there, Ronnie Anne becomes rather playful to her friend. She then throws another pillow to his face.

There goes one pillow fight where the two try to duke it out each other, burying each other's faces with pillows, knocking each other's faces with pillows and unleashing feathers to each other. It all becomes an uncontrollable ruckus that nearly messes Carlota's room.

Ronnie Anne's mom Maria overhears the commotion coming from the room. With concern, she quietly opens the door to see Lincoln and Ronnie Anne pillow-fighting. From the looks of it, they are being playful friends who are seizing the moment for childhood glee. With that, Maria takes a smile at it and quickly closes the door. But since it is hours before the quinceañera, she knocks to warn to Ronnie Anne. "Ronnie Anne, hope you are ready. We are leaving in an hour."

"Coming mom!" Ronnie Anne replies. They soon stop to catch their breaths from pillow-fighting. "Well, that was fun."

"Yeah, it was," Lincoln agrees.

"I have to fix myself. You too, lame-o."

"Yeah."

"Just call Carlota. She will help dress you up. If not, maybe Bobby can pull some trick from his sleeve. That is if he is not busy taking selfies with Lori."

"Yeah. Well, see you."

Before Lincoln leaves the room, Ronnie Anne tells to him, "Hey, maybe after the party, the adults might talk for so long. So, we can seize the time for ourselves."

"So, you okay that we wander around after?"

"Well…my offer does not last long."

With that, Lincoln happily accepts for a brief night out after quinceañera.

* * *

The Casagrandes help the Louds on their attire for the quinceañera. After that, they travel en route to the venue via convoy led by the Casagrandes' vehicle. The adults (Maria, Aunt Frida, Uncle Carlos, Grandpa Hector, Grandma Rosa and Carlota) converge in the Casagrandes' sedan while the Loud children and the Casagrande children (Carl, CJ and Carlito) board on Vanzilla.

Before she starts the van, Lori lays some ground rules. "Okay, this is literally it guys. The one chance to make a good impression with the Casagrandes. So, I don't want anyone of you to blow it for me. Lana, easy with the churros. Lisa, don't there kill anyone!"

"Why would science be fatal to the Latin American anatomy?" Lisa randomly asks.

Lori then points to the rest of her siblings. "And the rest of you, just have fun but not too much."

The rest of them cheer. And off, they go.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne find themselves together, but they are squeezed in between by Lynn and Lana who are duking out each other with spitballs.

"Well, this looks promising," Lincoln says in positive light.

"If we only occupy the front seats," Ronnie Anne grunts.

"Do you want your perfume mixed with Lily's diaper stench?"

Ronnie Anne then looks upon Lily's whereabouts, where Leni and Luna are trying to change her diaper, even with literal bumps on the road.

"Leni, we should have removed the diaper first before lifting her up," Luna reminds her while her nose is clipped with a pin.

"I know. I change diapers all the time and always think of them as disposable underwear," Leni replies while wearing a nose pin.

Ronnie Anne shudders at that sight. "I stand corrected. Well, at least the church and the venue isn't that far."

* * *

The convoy eventually stumble upon traffic, which takes them a one-hour travel, as opposed to a thirty-minute travel.

The expressions on Ronnie Anne's face can be summed up with a "this is bogus" rant. But Lincoln clings closer to her to assure of things going smoothly.

After that, the Louds and the Casagrandes arrive at the church. They are greeted by several aged women from the clan. They greet them with open arms, most especially to Ronnie Anne. She and Lincoln then are called to join the other dames and chamberlains to be called for the event.

The event starts off with a thanksgiving Mass that culminates in the girl receiving a tiara. The celebration is sacred and spiritual in tradition, allowing Lincoln to embrace Ronnie Anne's culture.

After the Mass, the families take off en route to a far-flung palace resort, where the celebratory reception will take place.

The event starts right on as the main celebrant of the evening, a girl named Gloria, presents herself to the audience of anticipated invitees as she walks down to the glamorous staircase. A lot of the attendees pull out their cameras and capture this exciting moment.

It goes on with a formal toast, where Gloria's parents reach out a toast for their daughter and some guests present gifts for the celebrant.

It then shifts to a formal dance, starting with the father and some godparents. Lincoln realizes that, as a chamberlain (or chambelán), he must dance with the quinceañera. He facially gestures to Ronnie Anne, implying that he is uncertain of what to do. Ronnie Anne then gestures him to do dance the way he danced with her. Though, Lincoln misunderstands this.

Abruptly, after getting through with the rest of the chamberlains, it is Lincoln's turn for him to lead the dance with Gloria. The now 15-year-old presents herself gracefully. But Lincoln is brimming in fear that it is almost cringe-worthy in Lori's eyes. He looks upon his sisters for support. Then his eyes move to Ronnie Anne, whose eyes give him assurance.

With a deep breath, Lincoln bows his head and performs waltz with the celebrant. Gloria is rather amazed that an 11-year-old like him would stand up in confidence and lead a dance to her. (Conveniently enough, the rest of the chamberlains are aged 14 and above.) Applause comes after the dance.

Everybody else takes part of the general dance, including Lori and Bobby. Suddenly, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lucy find themselves paired with five other boys who looks and acts exactly like them, only more masculine and Hispanic. They seem to be cocky but charming.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne finally pair with each other, looking at eye to eye and savoring the moment. After moments it took them to develop and strengthen their long-distance friendship, they take a deep breath of celebration towards each other.

Cue the obligatory modern dance number where the guests dance from Kenny Loggins' "Footloose" to Pharell Williams' "Happy" to Luis Fonsi's "Despacito", because of course.

The two meanwhile sneak away from the party and meet each other on the rooftop garden.


	25. Another Page-Turner 7: The WestSideStory

The quinceañera goes on spectacularly, with the guests dancing to the house band and the DJ that the debutante Gloria requested. It was a mash of EDM and rock music, and almost everyone is digging it.

Some of the Loud try to blend in with the crowd, like Lana digging on to the churros served, Lola finding charming boys to dance with, Lisa and Lily extracting chemicals from the food served and Lori bonding with Bobby as he introduces her to the Casagrande relatives.

The older sisters meanwhile – Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lucy – sit on the table to watch the scenery, when they are approached by Grandma Rosa and Grandpa Hector.

"Why you still in the table, my dear senoritas? Come join the occasion," Grandma Rosa insists.

"Yes, it has been rare for us to have quinceañeras in the clan, you know," Grandpa Hector adds.

"It's not that we're shy or anything," Lynn replies. She then points to their male Casagrande counterparts. "It's that those boys…"

Grandma Rosa then looks to where Lynn is pointing, seeing her male counterpart gesturing her to take interest in him. She instantly recognizes them, "Oh, my sweet pepita, looks like Jinn likes you."

"Lino?" she utters.

"He is a good friend and part of the Moreno clan," the elderly Casagrande explains. "They have been a very supportive family in our community back in the big city that never sleeps. His family helped the Casagrande clan make their recipe of tamales much known in the city. So, both families become part of a huge business. And he is a sweet fruit from the family." Grandma Rosa also enumerates the other boys from the table. "Also there is Juni, Juna, Juan and Jose. There are more brothers in their family, but haven't seen them in the occasion."

"Though from seeing their suave charm, I think they like to dance with you," Grandpa Hector says.

But the Loud sisters are obviously unsure of the idea.

"Yeah, we don't actually, you know, dance like them or your family," Lynn replies. "I think we are good here on the table. And because I don't dance. Not my thing."

"Yeah, I have to perfect my salsa lessons so I can make a perfect dip," Leni adds, bringing a raise to the eyebrow from the rest.

"Dude, you know that 'salsa' you're talking about, right?" Luna questions her.

"I know what I said," Leni replies. "That and including what kind of dressing I should apply."

Luan then takes a snap out of it. "Ha! Well I guess this na-cho ordinary wordplay. Haha! Get it?"

Suddenly at that moment, Juna leaps from his seat and stands on the table. The music stops, and the spotlights shine on him. Jose then gives him a microphone with a stand for the occasion. The suave Moreno lad pulls out a fedora hat and prepares to go for style to serenade to the sisters.

Juan then cues his brothers and the house band to join him on an impromptu musical number, starting with snapping. They do an impromptu beat.

When the first chord plays, Juna walks to Luna, and the Moreno boys sing "America" from _West Side Story_ for the Loud sisters. It was surreal that the boys act like the Puerto Rican Sharks from the hit Broadway musical.

As a result, Luna stands on the table, just as her counterpart does now, and sings her own version of "The Jet Song":

 _When you're a Loud_

 _You're a Loud all the way_

 _From the day you're allowed_

 _To do nothing all day_

Luan then joins in, singing:

 _When you're a Loud_

 _If things get lost at hand_

 _You have got to be proud_

 _We sisters got it planned_

The Loud sisters then go on twirling around the Morenos, just like in the musical.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lincoln and Ronnie Anne sneak away from the quinceañera and get their way on the rooftop. It is mostly barren and composed of antennas, satellite dishes, potted plants and other ventilation systems that are installed. But the true highlight is the oversized moon overlooking the shimmering city.

"It's kind of beautiful on top here," Lincoln remarks.

"Yeah, you only get this rare of a view for this occasion," Ronnie Anne replies.

The two also hear the commotion coming from the party. Hooting and cheering, combine it with ear-stomping music, are what goes on.

"Should we check out what's happening inside?" Lincoln asks.

"I thought you want to sneak away from our folks and enjoy this moment?" Ronnie Anne replies.

Lincoln realizes this, but decides to stick to the plan. "Nah, I think it'll be fine. Don't want to miss a beautiful moon like you said."

The two wishful youths then seize the view for that moment. It is almost tranquil to stare at the moon over a bustling city. Silence comes after as the two absorb the gradual growth of their undeniable friendship.

Lincoln looks at Ronnie Anne and sees the radiance that draws from her eyes to her gown. The curly lock that dangles from her air gives it a nice touch. He then breaks the silence by this lovely remark, "You still look beautiful."

Ronnie Anne is secretly enamoured by his compliment. But she shrugs it off with a banter. "You're just being cheesy again, lame-o,"

"Well better cheesy than being lame-o."

She takes a chuckle out of it. "I do need a lame-o like you."

Lincoln is also secretly enamoured by Ronnie Anne's words that his face turns red. Butterflies soon circulate inside his stomach.

"So, what happened?"

He snaps out from being swayed to sensing Ronnie Anne. "What?"

"What happened…to you and Paige? You told me she only finds you as a friend."

"Yeah…"

"What happened to you two?"

"It's best I leave it as it is. If she wants to be friends, okay…"

"I thought you said that she is the girl for you?"

"I don't know. Maybe I made a mistake. We all make mistakes."

"But for real Lincoln, who is Paige for you now?"

Lincoln's throat runs dry when that question sinks in him. He tries to come up with a concrete explanation but his mind gets scrambled on his true feelings for Ronnie Anne. The 11-year-old senses that Ronnie Anne is evaluating their friendship towards each other. But with a deep breath, Lincoln answers, "Paige is just a friend. She is just another girl I liked."

Ronnie Anne then complacently replies, "Okay…" She puts on a little frown afterwards.

From her tone, Lincoln assumes that Ronnie Anne becomes insecure whenever Paige is around him. Basing on his sisters' experiences, he realizes that Ronnie Anne actually bears feelings for him. Mutually, spurred by their gradual commitment on their friendship, he also bears feelings for Ronnie Anne. "Ronnie Anne…"

"What?" she answers vehemently.

"Well, you put me on the hot seat. You made me feel it."

"Feel what?"

"From that time when Paige kind of dumped me, when I tried to find a shoulder I could lean on, it is you I first saw. I was grateful that you answered."

"It's the least I could do, lame-o."

"Yeah. It made me feel something too."

"And what is it?"

"That I actually have a very good friend with me. Who hates me but likes me. Who beats me up but lends a hand. Who looks scary but looks to care for me. Who calls me 'lame-o' but wants me to become her friend."

"Lincoln, are we going to this direction?"

But Lincoln ignores her pleas and finally admits, "Here is it Ronnie Anne, this is me loud and clear. I like you. I mean I really, really like you. More than just a friend."

Ronnie Anne is left speechless at Lincoln's confession. Granted, this is not the first instance that Lincoln confessed to her, the first instance being on the episode "Heavy Meddle". But this spurs from a time that they have deep feelings toward each other. She cannot help but blush within that she tries to hide from her constant frown and toughness on her face.

"Just tell me if you don't see the same way, and it is fine," Lincoln adds.

But Ronnie Anne admits, "Wait. Lincoln, I really can't get you out of my head. That really bugs me, you know? You're one of the few friends who really has the guts to look at me in a dress and not think of me as a perky girl. I hate it." She then crosses her arms, keeping her toughness aligned.

"So, what you're trying to say is…"

At this time, the Hispanic 11-year-old slowly let Lincoln's confession sink in to her system. It is rather bugging her that she bears similar feelings but tries to keep her invulnerability intact. Thus, she becomes resolved. She soon mumbles, "I like you too."

"What was that?" Lincoln has her repeat.

"I SAID I LIKE YOU, LINCOLN LOUD!"

"Okay, okay. You don't have to shout it out loud. Somebody might hear you."

"Let them hear what I feel, LIKE I CARE! Because of your stupid face, stupid jokes and stupid care to our friendship that I STUPIDLY CARE FOR YOU!" From just the tone, her confession becomes an aggravation that Ronnie Anne messes her face up.

Lincoln is also speechless at Ronnie Anne's sudden response to his confession. Though her aggression went too far, it becomes clear: The former bully Ronnie Anne truly likes him. But he likes to notice more her hair than her confession (as a coping mechanism). "Ronnie Anne, we're still going inside. You better not mess your looks."

But Ronnie Anne takes his face and kisses him on the lips.

Needless to say, Lincoln is carried away by the sweet lips of his newfound love. He presses his lips to fulfil that longing he wanted in their blossoming friendship. He could only picture the nostalgia, the joy and the euphoria of young love.

Ronnie Anne sooner breaks away from their kiss, immediately blushing along the way. "I never kissed like that before…" she utters nervously.

Lincoln kisses her again for a second. "We kinda get carried away."

The two of them then giggle about it.

Wanting to make that night so romantic, Lincoln pulls out his phone and plays the song "Don't Know Why" by Norah Jones. He offers his hand to his new love. "Want to dance?"

"You know I don't dance," Ronnie Anne, being snarky, replies. She then takes his hand, and they partake in another slow dance. Ronnie Anne is kind of uneasy to how she dances with Lincoln, either she is not used to accepting dances from boys or she is still alien to the fact that she is dancing with her own best friend.

Their steps are simple enough, with Lincoln accidentally doing wrong turns and Ronnie Anne accidentally stepping on his foot. The two just laugh off the mistakes they made along the way.

After three minutes or so of slow dancing, Ronnie Anne insists, "Hold on Lincoln. I wish to give you something."

"What is it?" he asks.

"Something to remind us of our friendship." Ronnie Anne then pulls out a present for Lincoln. "Open it up. You'll be so happy at what's inside."

"Well, if you insist…" As he unties the bows, Lincoln opens his present, only for a small blueberry pie to pop to his face.

Ronnie Anne manically laughs at just how Lincoln quickly falls for her prank. "Oh my! You should have seen your face! So priceless! Hahahaha!"

Lincoln comes off as slightly annoyed to Ronnie Anne's prank as the blueberry pie drips from his face. He then tastes the pie itself. "It's not that bad." But he keeps hearing Ronnie Anne's laughs that he cannot help but throw a smudge of it to her face, rendering her speechless. "Hahaha! Now that is also priceless. Now we're even. Haha!"

"Well, I give you that." Ronnie Anne also tastes the pie itself. "Yeah, it's not bad."

"So, we pranked each other," Lincoln says, to which the both of them laugh at.


	26. Another Page-Turner 8: The Lost Foot

Back in the quinceañera, the dance-off continues when the table and chairs have been pushed to the sides, and everyone has their eyes glued to the dance floor. The Moreno clan, led by Jinn, Juni, Juna, Juan and Jose, dominate the floor with their spectacular dance moves that screams _West Side Story_ all over.

The Louds – composing of Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn and Lucy – follow up as well with a little flair and more tap dancing at the moment. It is almost dubious yet amazing how they display such elaborate choreography with little experience in choreography. They are soon joined by some white girls to equate the numbers to the boys. Now, it becomes a clear parallel to the conflict between the Jets and the Sharks from the _West Side Story_ , and the dance-off eerily resembles the challenge dance sequence of that iconic Broadway musical.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne return just in time to see the amazing dance battles with two clans.

"Are those really my sisters?" Lincoln wonders. His suspension of disbelief starts to come to form when he recognizes his sisters elaborately dancing their way in front of the Morenos. Lynn notably dances her way in a solo act that resembles that of the character Maria, even though she is not part of the Jets. But her uncontrollable but graceful movements seem to show.

"I didn't know Lynn can dance," Ronnie Anne implies.

"She doesn't dance. Only shows off," Lincoln says.

The house band tries to match the music to Lynn's impromptu movements. The beat and the tempo gets faster to sync it with Lynn's sudden tap dancing. The drums tremble in amazement. Her feet keeps stomping. And everyone's hearts beat along…until with one beat, Lynn gets eye-to-eye with Jinn. His eyes shimmer along, amazed by her surprise choreography.

One beat goes, and the celebration continues with most of the guests joining in the dance.

"Well, shall we go in?" Lincoln offers his hand to Ronnie Anne.

But abruptly, Ronnie Anne's mom Maria shows up to them. "Oh good. There you are, Ronalda. I've been looking all over for you. Where have you been?"

"I was…uhmm…getting some air," Ronnie Anne gives her excuse. "I kind of get queasy with crowds." She stutters her laughter.

"Yes, but you need to stick to staying inside," Ms. Santiago insists. "Who knows what might happen to you, pepita?"

"I'm fine, mom," she assures.

"Oh, I know you are." Maria then hugs her.

Feeling the tightness of her embrace, Ronnie Anne tells her, "Okay mom. It's good." Eventually, she returns the hug.

After that, Maria tells her, "Okay, go have fun. We still have a big night to go." She then turns to Lincoln and tells him, "It's good to have you here with us, Lincoln. We really enjoy your company. And your sisters there…I am just speechless."

"It was nothing. They love to dance," he happily says, but mumbles, "Even though they don't know how to dance. Mystery."

"It is fine. Just don't deal too much with Ronalda. You kids can have fun. But not too much. And for you, Lincoln, take good care for her. We would love to count on you." After that, she walks back to the adult's table.

Her words strike him like a swift arrow to the chest. Interpreting on what she said to him, Lincoln thinks that she has handed her blessing towards the relationship between him and Ronnie Anne. His suspension of disbelief could not be this big.

"Lincoln," Ronnie Anne calls him as she nudges his elbow, snapping him from staring blankly into space. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Lincoln answers hurriedly to conceal the panic on his nerves. "I'm good. I'm really kicking. So good. Cool!" He beams unassumingly, making Ronnie Anne raise an eyebrow.

But she brushes it off. "Okay, so shall we take this to the dance floor?"

"You know…My feet are kind of tired from the dancing we did and I feel the floor is too crowded. You do hate crowds, right?"

"Lincoln, I hate crowds but it doesn't mean I'm gonna back away like a coward. Come on!" She then drags him to the middle of the hall and into the bustling set of guests.

The music throws back classic dance songs from the 70's to the 80's that the young and old crowd cannot help but follow along to the dance moves led by Jinn Moreno.

He encourages the audience, "Buenas tardes damas y caballeros. Ladies and gentlemen, follow my lead." "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins plays across the halls, and the people follow happily to Jinn's leading. As the chorus arrives, he winks directly to Lynn, which makes her face red.

"Seems pretty boy Moreno has a thing for you," Lori teases her.

"What?! No," Lynn denies. "Okay, he is good looking. But why could he be into me?" Surely enough, she smiles back at Jinn, who is still looking at her. She thinks of waving back at him. When she does, he winks back at her again, which really falls over for.

"Everybody cut loose!" he hoots the crowd.

And the chorus kicks in again.

Lincoln tries to catch up but he feels his burdens along the way. He could not but overthink on what Ms. Santiago has instructed to him. It almost feels like an obligation for him to take care of Ronnie Anne. He glances upon her at her most joyous to a cheesy 80's dance song and can only notice her gleeful face as she dances.

Ronnie Anne then notices him not joining to the groove of the rest of the guests. So, she pulls him towards her to get out of his funk and join in.

The crowd suddenly paces backwards, leaving Lincoln wide open. He is not able to catch up to Jinn's encouraging instructions that the leading man choreography suddenly bumps on him.

"Sorry! Didn't mean that," Lincoln apologizes to him.

"Hey, it's okay, little muchacho," Jinn replies, "Want to take the lead with me?"

"It's fine. Not really much of a dancer," he hesitates.

"¡Tonterías hijo mío!" the Moreno kid responds. "Dancer or no dancer, all it matters is we celebrate."

Michael Jackson's "Thriller" soon kicks in with a long intro overture, with the crowd somehow having memorized the zombie choreography from the iconic music video. Jinn takes the lead as MJ, with Lincoln trying to mimic his movements. Jinn shows him the basic struts that MJ performed. Lincoln moves his arms and legs to coordinate with his choreography. There are stumbles along the way before the song hits the first lyrics. But Lincoln is able to keep up.

With a jolt, the chorus kicks in, with Lincoln and Jinn leading crowd to almost copying the chorus lines. The rest of the guests who stayed in their seats are just amazed by the dance number that the crowd is able to follow.

Lincoln looks back at Ronnie Anne, who gives him a thumb up. With that gesture, Lincoln gets hyper in dancing along with Jinn for the rest of the night.

An hour goes on, with more dance music from the 90's to the 2010's kicking in. Gloria's quinceañera ends with a slow dance between her and her future suitor to the tune of "Thinking Out Loud" by Ed Sheeran as the remaining people receive shivers as they watch the two lovebirds serenading.

The Loud siblings take a break back in their table as they wait for Lori and Luan trying to comfort Lana in the bathroom after she got full from too much churros.

"What's taking them so long?!" Lola complains.

"Chill, sis," Luna says to her, "Lana must have eaten way enough."

"She should haven't got that free-flowing round of churros," Lola chastises. "Why are there even free-flowing churros in the first place?"

The Casagrandes meanwhile say their goodbyes to their close relatives and distant relatives, especially the Morenos.

Before the latter clan leaves, Jinn approaches Lynn to say his goodbye. "It is an honor seeing you, senorita. I do wish we have time together."

Lynn seems flattered but she opts to show her tough girl image. "It was fine to see you dance and challenge us to a dance. But if you know me, I am actually more into sports. You are fine, Jinn."

"It is fine, Senorita Lynn Loud," he replies suavely. "I do hope we get to spend time together more." He leaves her with a kiss to her hand before he departs.

The sisters, save Lisa and the sisters in the bathroom, cannot help but feel in awe of that sweet moment. "Awww…"

"Lynn finally fell in love," Leni teases her.

"Will you quit it guys? It's not like I am gonna see him or anything," Lynn tells them. But upon her hands, she feels holding a piece of paper. She opens her fist to reveal a paper that has Jinn's number on it.

Leni, Lola, Luna and Lucy sneak up on her to see the number, causing them to tease her more.

"Stop it guys!" Lynn pleads.

Lori and Luan finally step out of the bathroom to assist a recovering Lana. At the same time, the Casagrandes catch up to them.

"Are you girls good?" Maria asks them.

"Yeah literally," Lori answers. "Lana just needs a break from the baked sweets."

Ironically, Grandpa Hector encourages them, "Well, we can hit the road and have an after party back in our place."

"Wait, where's Ronnie Anne and Lincoln?" Maria queries them.

On right timing, Ronnie Anne returns to them. "Right here. Right here."

"Where's Lincoln then?" Luan asks.

"Men's room," the young Casagrande answers.

Surely enough, Lincoln has just finished using the elegant restroom of the palace resort. He then stumbles upon another birthday party across from them. This time, it is more posh and organized.

Brushing it off, he continues his way until he bumps across somebody on the face.

"Watch where you going!" the person, who sounds like a young girl, rebukes him.

"Sorry I didn't mean to," Lincoln apologizes.

That person suddenly recognizes the person she bumped into. "Lincoln, is that you?"

With a panic shriek, Lincoln gasps in horror, "PAIGE?!"


	27. Another Page-Turner 9: The Reluctance

The two estranged children come face to face after bumping their own clueless heads towards each other. It is a genuine awkward moment.

Lincoln tries to mouth his words but he keeps stuttering. "Pppppppp…ppppppp…pppaapapap…"

"Are you okay, Lincoln?" she asks.

Immediately, he takes in his confidence for a second as a defense mechanism to the girl who inadvertently hurt him. "No. I mean yes. You don't need to ask. I am perfectly fine. Why you ask?"

"You seem to be finding it hard to speak."

"No, no, no. Why you ask? And what are you doing here?"

"Uhmmm I was invited to a birthday party here. See?" She then points to the other party that is being held in the resort.

"Well, that's a coincidence 'cause I was invited for a birthday party next to yours."

"Oh, isn't that too coincidental?"

"Yeah…"

After that exchange, the two go through a brief silence towards each other. The most affected is Lincoln who still bears a grudge over Paige after he overhears her admitting that she disregards him after their strong friendship. She never has knowledge that Lincoln eavesdropped her about it.

"So…how was it?" she breaks the ice.

"It was good," Lincoln quickly answers, wanting to hide his begrudges. "It was a quinceañera. There were a lot of food, and dances, and fine people. So, I am really happy."

"Is that so? Well I am glad that you are happy."

"Me too." As the two go through another silent treatment again, Lincoln tries to think of his words if he must admit about Paige's wrongdoing. "So look, I…"

"I…" Paige is also about to admit something, only for her words to overlap with Lincoln's.

"I just want to say I…" The two try to admit to each other, but they keep overlapping their words.

"You first," they request simultaneously.

"No, you first Paige, as a gentleman," Lincoln politely encourages.

"Well okay, I have been thinking. I have been running this in my mind for a while now. I tried to find you in school. But I just can't seem to find you. But never mind about it. I think I want our friendship to be strong, you know? We have been good friends but I want to do it beyond the arcade. Maybe help each other at school, see each other after, maybe go to the mall together often. Those fun things."

"You mean you like us to be together?" Lincoln asks to clarify.

"Well, yes. Don't you want it?"

Deep inside, Lincoln wants to admit that he is through with Paige and that he has moved on with Ronnie Anne. It is kind of condescending for a young soul to think of such things and has to give his decision about such things. But when he learns that his crush wants to expand their friendship that will in turn end in a relationship, his heart exploded like a gas tank under pressure that leads to combustion. He could feel the heat running through his skin. But he also considers his current situation where he and Ronnie Anne admit feelings for each other. So, like last time, he tries to mouth his words, but only ends up stuttering them, "I…well…it was…uhmmm…kind of…you see, Paige, there is…uhmmmm…"

"Are you okay Lincoln?" Paige asks as she witness him trying to frustratingly come up with his words. "Ever since I literally bumped on you, you were acting that way. So, did I also hit your voice too?"

"No, come on," Lincoln laughs it off. "No. Maybe I just blown away with the blinding coincidence that you're here and I am here. And it is still overwhelming that we get to meet up here, and talk about our relationship." Paige feels kind of uneasy when he admits that. "You get what I'm trying to say, right?"

"Yeah. I do, really," Paige answers. "Maybe I was carried away. But I understand you."

Lincoln just lets out a beam for her, relieved at her understanding.

Abruptly, a grownup from the birthday party calls on Paige. "Paige, come inside now. Tina is looking for you."

"Well, duty calls," she replies to Lincoln. "Coming! See you in school!"

"Yeah, see you too," Lincoln lifelessly responds.

But before she returns to the party, Paige says to Lincoln, "Hey Lincoln, you're still a cool kid in my eyes. I am looking forward for our friendship." She ends with a wink to his eye, to which he blushes upon. When the door is shut, Lincoln pastes his face to the party that Paige is attending. He cannot help but keep his eyes glued to a pretty cool girl, draped on a yellow frilly dress with golden sleeves. Add to that is a scrunchie that supports her hair, and Lincoln is instantly attracted.

Suddenly, CJ appears from his right side, "Lincoln!"

"Ahhhhhh!" Of course, Lincoln becomes surprised at CJ's presence. "CJ, don't scare me like that. You are almost like Lucy."

"Van is about to go," the Casagrande kid informs him.

"Right. Sorry about it. I was just…checking out something. No need to worry." Lincoln conceals his secret with Paige with a nervous beam on his face, right before running for the van.

But CJ is able to perceive what transpired upon Lincoln. "Who's the girl, Lincoln?"

"What?"

"CJ sees Lincoln with another girl. And you two talk."

"She's just a girl from school. We are just schoolmates. We just know each other a lot. There's no big deal about it."

"But you two alone…"

"What? Us? No. Some kids are like that. You don't have to see it as another thing. Let's not waste any time for that. Let's catch up with the others."

Even with such a hasty encouragement from his brother from another mother, CJ is having trouble understanding Lincoln in a sense of how the kid must interpret his encounter with another girl. "Look, Lincoln, CJ may not understand love. But he understands that you love Ronnie Anne. And he hope you love her too."

Lincoln could almost feel the upset from CJ's face. Thus, he sympathizes with him, "Look CJ, I will never hurt Ronnie Anne. I love Ronnie Anne. It's just things are so hard to understand that we need time to think. But don't get me wrong. That girl you saw, she's just a girl from school. And I would never fall for her. She's fine. But she's not Ronnie Anne. How's that?"

"Just don't hurt her okay?"

"I won't. I promise."

CJ then raises his pinkie to Lincoln as a declaration of trust. Lincoln complies with hooking his pinkie towards CJ's.

"Of course, pinkie swear. Promise."

And immediately, CJ switches to his happy self and runs back to the group. "Okay, let's go home!"

Lincoln follows along.

* * *

Back at the Casagrande's apartment, the family holds a post- quinceañera feast that Grandma Rosa wishes to throw before the Louds travel back to Royal Woods for the next morning. Every variety of maize-based finger food are prepared like tortillas, tamales, arepas, pupusas, uchepos and tacos. Also there are bowls of paellas, rellenos, mofongos, chicharrón de pollo and pork guisado. The Louds – or specifically the sisters – immediately feast on the colorful that was served to them.

"Just enjoy my pepitas, there's more where they came from," Grandma Rosa reminds them.

"Never thought they would have such an eye for that many food," Uncle Carlos says.

"Well, if there's one thing we learn from them, it is that nothing can satisfy a traveler's hunger than a real feast," Grandpa Hector adds.

Then, Grandma Rosa asks from them, "You can start by not standing around and help me take out the lechon for our guests!"

"Right, of course!" Grandpa Hector complies. The two Casagrandes then take out a heavily roasted suckling pig from the oven and carry it to the table to have it sliced and diced.

The Louds are having a blast with the food, but Lincoln chooses to stay behind from the pack. He only has two tamales, a couple of lechon pieces, a smidgeon of guisado and salsa on his plate. He is still contemplating about the sudden appearance of Paige in his personal space.

Ronnie Anne, having a lot of food on her plate, spots him. "Hey, what's up? Why aren't you enjoying with the rest?"

"I am fine. I will just eat a little," Lincoln replies with a somber tone.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am cool."

"Alright. Suit yourself. You might miss Grandma Rosa's guacamole recipe. Just saying. It's really delicious."

Even with a little encouragement from her, Lincoln feels less compliant. "I will." After Ronnie Anne walks out, the 11-year-old slowly consumes his food.

Later on, after the family settles on bed, Lincoln unwinds in front of the television, watching an endless marathon of _Lost in Space_.

Suddenly, Ronnie Anne pops out in front of him. "Lincoln!"

Lincoln gasps in fear. "Will anyone stop surprising me?"

"You're staring at the TV for six hours already," she rebukes. "Shouldn't you be at bed?"

"It's 11, Ronnie Anne. Can't you let me watch TV?"

She then vehemently points to the clock, which shows it to be hitting on 5:14 AM, which does not affect Lincoln in the slightest.

"Your clock must have run out of batteries," Lincoln enunciates like a laidback husband.

"Lincoln, you don't seem alright."

"Nope, I am just wanting to see…no books."

"Huh?"

His state of deniability extends till the morning when Lincoln is about to have burrito for breakfast.

"Lincoln, what burrito you just picked?" Ronnie Anne asks.

"Ronnie Anne, again and again, I am alright, okay?!" Lincoln argues defensively. "I just want to spend the last moments in your place with this piece of burrito." He then takes a large bite from it.

"Lincoln, does that burrito have a blue label?"

He then checks out to see a blue sticker on the bottom. "Yeah. So?"

"You don't want to know what comes next."

Sooner, Lincoln discovers how less spicy it is at first taste but feels a heavier spicy fusion in his stomach. He squirms, "Ohhhhhhhhmmmmm…" and quickly heads to the bathroom.

What happens for two hours are completely obvious.


	28. Another Page-Turner 10: The Parting

It is horror in the Casagrandes' apartment when they hear Lincoln struggling in the bathroom. In every spurt, it is truly horrific for them. But the most affected are the Louds who are horrified at Lincoln's struggle. Most especially is Lori, who is embarrassed and uncomfortable to address her brother's stomach situation. Bobby can see her right hand covering her face for the entirety, just to show how embarrassed she was.

He consoles her, "Babe? It's alright. It's normal to have such..." One loud spurt makes him and the rest pause in angst. But he continues, "…situations. It's no big deal."

Lynn then makes the situation better to the two by addressing a similar situation. "You should have heard this from the house after I ate a huge bowl of spicy Buffalo wings for an eating contest. The bathroom was off limits for the whole week." She ends it with a nasty laugh.

"Why gee thanks Lynn for making me feel better!" Lori sardonically implies to her.

Grandpa Hector then asks his granddaughter, "Ronalda, did you warn Lincoln about the burritos in the refrigerator?"

"I tried to but he kept ignoring me for whatever reason," Ronnie Anne answers annoyed.

One spurt again, Grandpa Hector implies, "Well, at least we know what to feed the cats with who are running amuck in front of the bodega.

Ronnie Anne sighs indefinitely.

Grandma Rosa finally shows up from the gathered crowd around the bathroom. "Por favor, what's the meaning of this?" She then hears one spurt from poor Lincoln. "And who is in the bathroom that warranted this attention?" Another spurt, she asks her third and final question, "And don't tell me we are in another bathroom situation?"

Altogether, the Casagrandes, save for Maria and Aunt Frida, nod 'yes' to her.

"Now then, I have to prepare the jasmine incienso, the toilet detergent and the jasmine candles." She then heads to kitchen to fetch her cleaning regiment. "I'll be right back."

Ronnie Anne remarks, "Well, this is what Lincoln gets for being an ignorant hothead."

"What happened to you and Lincoln anyway?" Luan asks her.

"I don't know about him. He was kind of pushy after the quinceañera," Ronnie Anne defends. "I swear. I caught him watching TV alone last night and being spoiled or something when he's about to get a burrito. He was being ignorant when I am around."

Leni then deduces the situation, shocking coming from a rather dull-witted sister. "Hmmmm I think I read this in a magazine when it comes to boys being ignorant. They're hiding something, some situation or a deep secret that actually might hurt with a girl. That's why he's being defensive. It can go either way. Either the boy becomes in denial that there's something bugging him or he skips the topic and moves to another."

"So what you're saying is?" Lola asks for clarification.

"Lincoln might be hiding something," Leni concludes, "Not sure what. But he is hiding something."

"That could not be good, dude," Luna remarks.

"That sorta rhymes," Luan notes insensitively.

Lucy then enters to the discussion, "Ronnie Anne, could it be that something happened before, during or after the quinceañera that caused him to act that way?"

"I don't know. He was fine during the party," she confirms. But after some reflection, she finds out, "That is after the party."

"Maybe something bugged him. You better confront about it," the goth Loud suggests.

Internally, Ronnie Anne considers Lucy's suggestion since her mind tries to deduce how Lincoln come up with a denial attitude.

* * *

The toilet situation has been resolved after two hours when Lincoln asks for assistance in his bowel movement. Uncle Carlos and Bobby come to his aid for medication for his stomach and for fetching him warm water to ease the pain. After a while, they offer him a change of underwear and pants.

Grandma Rosa, with the assistance of Lisa, hurriedly disinfects the bathroom and eliminates every trace of stools present from the proceedings. Eventually, their brightly tiled bathroom becomes good as new. And a new odor from a jasmine-scented candle circulates sticks to the bathroom walls.

Meanwhile, Lincoln rests on the dinner table to ease down from his formally churning stomach with a cup of jasmine tea.

"How do you feel, my little pepito?" Grandma Rosa asks.

Lincoln takes a sip of the tea to feel rejuvenated again, "This tea is good! Thanks Grandma Rosa."

"No problem, Lincoln. It's a responsibility that we keep our bathrooms clean and serviceable for other guests of course." She then points on a current bathroom situation where some of the Loud sisters already lined up for the door. Lynn is now inside the bathroom, much to Lincoln's dismay. "It's fine, my Lincoln. Just tell me if you want more tea."

As he takes a sip, Ronnie Anne approaches him with deep concern imprinted on her face. "Lincoln, be honest with me for once. Friend to friend, we trust each other. Please?"

"Actually I'm doing fine. This tea feels very exquisite," Lincoln answers in a rather posh way, just because he is having tea like a British man.

"I didn't mean your stomach! I mean you!" she clarifies aggressively. She then takes his hand and holds it firmly. "Lincoln, if there's anything bothering you, just let me know. I don't want to get even an inch worried about. Just tell me what's going on."

Realizing the weight that Ronnie Anne feels, Lincoln makes his final resolve. "Nothing. It's just that I am overwhelmed with my stay that I don't want it to end. I wish it could go longer. I just don't want to feel sad that we have to part ways again."

"Is that for real?"

"Yes!" Lincoln answers with conviction. "Ronnie Anne, I appreciate our friendship and I don't want it to end it here. Maybe I still can't get over our rooftop moment." He then takes a laugh at it, to which Ronnie Anne eventually succumbs to joining him laugh.

"You're just full of surprises, lame-o," she remarks. "Are you sure that's the only concern?"

"Yes, it is. I just don't know how I can express it."

Ronnie Anne feels enamored with his expression that she senses him being honest. Surprisingly, with the convenience of anyone not looking at them, Ronnie Anne embraces him. "I guess I'm going to miss you lame-o."

"Yep. Me too."

"We're best friends, okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't we best friends?"

They take a laugh at it, as soon as they cherish a moment of embrace.

But right inside Lincoln, he knows that he excused himself from Ronnie Anne over his regenerated interest on Paige. Immediately, a sense of guilt strikes to his heart.

* * *

The Louds eventually pack up for their travel back home. Uncle Carlos and Grandpa Hector help

load their bags to the van. The girls exchanges embraces with the Casagrandes.

"Once I get home, promise I will send you the latest sells for the summer," Leni says to Carlota.

"Oh I can't wait, girl," Carlota happily replies.

"She'll soon forget it," Lisa interrupts.

"I know right!" Leni utters.

The rest of exchanges go from Grandma Rosa giving Lynn, Luan, Lola and Lily her famous cooking, Aunt Frida offering Lucy some Dia de los Muertos souvenir, Lalo licking Lana, CJ and Carlito listening to Luna strumming her guitar, and Bobby saying his goodbyes to his girlfriend Lori.

"Ohh Boo-boo Bear, I don't know how I can take this long-distance relationship," she bemoans to him, "What if it may not last? What if it will literally be the end of the world?!"

"Lori, as long as we are there for each other, we will never be apart," Bobby promises.

Hearing those words of affirmation, Lori hugs Bobby tightly as her playful tears run down from her face, already wrecking her eyeliner.

Lincoln and Ronnie Anne just witness in disgust of how the two display their love for each other. The latter is more disgusted, being the non-romantic she is.

"Let them be. They wanted more time for each other," Lincoln says to her.

"Yeah," she utters. "So, this is it. Going back."

"Yeah. We'll still hang around. Video-call me all you want. Just not at game nights. Clyde and Rusty need someone on their backs. So, it kind of bugs them if I got distracted."

"Of course, noted that, Mr. Loud."

The two then smile at each other. While Ronnie Anne is resolved and satisfied to seeing one of her best friends visit her, Lincoln is rather reserved to himself, not wanting to give the illusion that he has still the weight of liking another girl who reappeared on his life. (At least, according to him.) Nevertheless, his throat subtly gushes with his gulping. But he remains confident in front of Ronnie Anne Santiago.

"So, this is 'see you later'," he says.

"Of course, why not?"

"Yeah," he implies nervously. "It's a long travel. You know how this state-to-state road trips go. Glad I'll take the front seat again."

Timely enough, Lori tells him, "Lincoln, can you take Leni's seat at the back? I'll be literally guiding her on driving."

"Leni's gonna drive?!" Lola reacts violently.

"Yes," Lori answers.

"Oh great, we're dead," the prima donna utters.

"Well, there goes the irony," Lincoln quips.

"I think your sister can do it," Ronnie Anne says.

"I am confident enough, even though she is having hard time with the gear shift."

Perfect timing is Leni testing out the gear shift of Vanzilla from the driver's seat. "Where's the button on this thing? How will I shoot the aliens down?"

The two just give a chuckle on Leni's usual cluelessness.

After a while, the Louds are ready to leave the city.

Lana says goodbye to Lalo. "You're a good boy, Lalo. Hope to see you soon." Lalo then slobbers her before she boards the van with dog saliva on her face, much to Lola's chagrin.

Lisa gives a proper farewell to Uncle Carlos. "It's a pleasure encountering you, Prof. Casagrande. If you would be interested in evolutionary horticulture, feel free to call me." She then offers him her calling card.

"You're a peculiar one for your age. And of course, I will," Uncle Carlos says.

Finally, Lincoln embraces Ronnie Anne before they part ways.

"I'll…try to contact you," Lincoln says.

"See you around, Lincoln Loud."

"You too, Ronalda Anne Santiago."

Even as he boards the van, the two cannot waver away from looking at each other's eyes. Lincoln waves back at Ronnie Anne, to which she does the same.

"We hope to see you soon," Maria tells to the Louds.

"We will," they say in unison.

"Hope you could visit us too, dudes!" Luna suggests. "It will be awesome!"

"We will!" the Casagrandes reply.

"And I will too. And you can all fall for Carl," Carl boasts, only to be interrupted by Grandpa Hector pushing him back.

Even as they exchange extensive goodbyes, Lori and Bobby would not let go.

"I will not let go, literally," Lori laments.

"I know, babe. I will not let go," Bobby bemoans. "But you have to let go off your hand, so you can drive back home."

"Right," she snaps back and fixes herself up. She then tells Leni, "Okay, start the engine."

Perfectly, Leni does so. Vanzilla drifts away from the Casagrandes. Yet, the two families continue to wave goodbye at each other. And Lincoln sees Ronnie Anne remaining to wave goodbye at him.

* * *

It is a rather smooth drive on the way home. In those terms, it means Leni is driving slowly to avoid going haywire with flooring the acceleration pedal.

"This is good, right? Am I doing it right, Lori?" she asks her older sister.

"Just well enough, Leni," Lori answers. "Maybe you can slowly tip the pedal to go teeny-tiny faster."

As a result of her slow driving, a traffic congestion is formed at their back, honking at the back.

That would not disturb the rest of the siblings, who fell fast asleep. The only one awake is Lincoln, who is still bothered if he can cleanly communicate with Ronnie Anne or not. For starters, he can chat with her as a friend. But he has to really acknowledge the romantic feelings they developed being put against the feelings he still has for Paige.

Until the dead of night, Lincoln has not contacted her.

What he does not know is that Ronnie Anne is messaging him the entire time through text and the messenger app. This hanging leaves the Casagrande girl feeling worried and troubled.


	29. Another Page-Turner 11: The Fallout

**Hello guys, to be honest, this is a hard chapter to write down since this eerily mirrors my present situation right now. I am currently pursuing an unorthodox relationship with a girl best friend. I have made it clear as to how this portion of the story should be concluded. And I hope and pray that it will not end up in the same way.**

 **To be in a relationship is to be responsible on keeping it growing. And also to have a purposeful view that will result in a fruitful marriage. If you cannot be adult enough, then you have yet to wait for the time of courtship to arrive. Just an opinion I wanted to share.**

 **Otherwise, hope you understand this piece.**

* * *

It is back to normalcy for Lincoln after a weekend with the Casagrandes. It is back to the usual routines: Lincoln gets up for the day; he prepares breakfast; he helps his sisters on getting ready for school; he goes to class; he hangs out with Clyde; he walks home with Clyde; he reads comics on his underwear; he does his homework if he has any; he switches the television; he handles situations from his ten sisters; and he snoozes to rest. Everything is almost uninterrupted and typically follows the Season 1 setup with no regard on what had transpired from the last few days.

But while he does his routine, his closest female friend Ronnie Anne is anxiously waiting for him every day. After school, she tries to contact Lincoln via her laptop's messaging application. She keeps sending him message after message. But he never replies back nor bothers to check out his account.

On the fifth day ever since Lincoln has talked to her, Ronnie Anne holds her grudges aside and attempts to contact her friend once again. Like the usual, he has not reply.

Grinding her teeth in frustration, she mumbles, "Friendship forever, huh? You suck-up lame-o!" She sums up her anger by slamming her laptop closed.

Her mother Maria overhears her frustration. She can sense that her daughter is in emotional peril that she knocks to her door. "Ronalda? Ronalda? Are you okay, sweetie?"

"I'm fine, mom," Ronnie Anne bitterly says so.

"Ronalda, I can tell by your voice that you are going through something."

But Ronnie Anne just grunts aloud, slamming her face to her pillow.

"You can always tell me. We can help you solve your problems." Sensing the door locked, Maria gets one of the house keys and unlocks the door to enter her daughter's room to console her. "Ronalda…hey…" She gracefully caresses Ronnie Anne's hair. "Ronalda, tell me what's wrong." The Casagrande matriarch holds her patience by massaging her daughter's scalp, so that she may be able to share to her.

Eventually, Ronnie Anne raises her body and removes the pillow from her face to share to her mom. "Do you get the feeling that you have a friend that you really trusted wants it so bad for one thing to happen with you?"

"What are you talking about, Ronalda?"

Ronnie Anne tries her best to share her relationship with Lincoln by inexplicably drawing analogies to that. "Like…a science project. When you have this idea that you both agree. But when you agreed for a paper mache volcano, on the day that you'll present, your partner just shows up with a paper shredder. Like that."

"Well, I'll feel betrayed that my partner did something else. Almost like I was ignored."

"Exactly mom! It's just that feeling."

"Why? Is this about a friend in school? Or any of your friends?"

"No, it's just…"

"Or about Lincoln?"

"No, me and Lincoln? We're fine. We just…he's just busy."

"Or anyone else?"

"No, it's just I heard a story like that from a classmate. I kind of feel for her. It really is intense." Ronnie Anne tries her best to keep up with the situation, even though her over-denial has gone off the rails.

Though, her mom just simply tries to help her daughter cope, even though she has reservations for her daughter's plight. "Are you sure? Because if you can relate to a story like that, it's fine with me. I watch telenovelas after work. But I mostly got interested with the Korean ones. They have these charming leads and good love stories. Every episode is just so interesting…"

But Ronnie Anne interrupts her, "Okay mom. I get it."

"I just don't want to see you sulking like that. I want to do my best to make sure you are alright."

"I am fine, mom. Maybe got carried away."

"I hope and pray you are." She then kisses her daughter on the forehead. "I'll prepare our dinner. Make sure you help set the table."

"I will, mama."

"Okay." Maria then walks out from her room.

Ronnie Anne then shuts the door closed and slams herself back to her bed, resuming her despair. Her grudges holds her back from confronting her laptop again, now placed on her lampshade desk. "Why am I still falling for you, lame-o?"

* * *

Back at Lincoln's end, in his bedroom, he just finished a game session via VR simulator with Clyde and Rusty.

"Man, that was intense!" Rusty exclaims. "Maybe next time, we can record this walkthrough and post it online."

"That would be awesome!" Clyde agrees.

"Yeah, do you know how to record in the VR?" Lincoln asks.

Rusty boasts that he knows a lot about recording videos and uploading them online. "Shucks, you are looking at an expert of gameplays here, gents. I know everything about it."

"Was that the reason why you dropped out of the chess club to do your 'projects'?" Clyde asks.

"The chess club was just a fluke," he explains. "I was just there so I can visit the Carlyle Manor. Speaking of, I head that they are secretly holding tournaments in their basement."

"For real?!"

"Yeah, I overheard in the men's room. But it is just between the three of us."

"I wonder what gameplay would look like for rich people," Clyde wonders.

"But we can interrogate one of the Carlyles in our next VR session tomorrow," Lincoln says. "I just got the plan." The boys joyfully agree.

Suddenly, a beep is sounded off from the messaging application in the laptop.

"Lincoln, your laptop keeps beeping a while ago. Are you sure you're not going to answer that?" Clyde wonders.

Lincoln feels a guilt building up for intentionally leaving Ronnie Anne hanging from her messages. "Just leave it be."

"Really Lincoln?" Rusty follows up. "Because one thing I learned from social media, it is that better reply to messages immediately if you don't want the idea that you're neglectful. That's one lesson I've learned from cooperating with Girl Jordan partner for biology."

"What happened to you two?" Clyde questions him.

"It's complicated," the freckled-face lad answers.

But Lincoln becomes a little pushy to them. "Okay, you may leave the commitment problems out of my room."

"What commitment problems are you talking about, Lincoln?" Rusty asks him.

However, Clyde takes control of the situation. "Let the expert handle this, Rusty. I'll talk to Lincoln." He then guides him outside and shuts the door, leaving Rusty fazed as he walks to his bike outside.

But back to Clyde, he aggressively confronts Lincoln, "Don't go hiding on everything, Lincoln!"

"What are you talking about?" Lincoln goes in denial.

"I feel the worry goose bumps crawling in your skin ever since you returned from Ronnie Anne's quinceañera."

"First of all, it's not Ronnie Anne having the quinceañera. Second, is there even such a thing as 'worry goose bumps'?"

"Lincoln, a best friend knows when his best friend is in peril. So tell me, did Ronnie Anne bothered you? Was she beating you up? Were you pranked all the time?"

"No, it's not that Clyde. It's neither of those things. It's something…deeper than that. Really, really deeper than that."

"Deeper? Hah! Don't tell me." From the looks of Lincoln's embarrassed blush, Clyde realizes that he and Ronnie Anne are in a relationship. "For real, buddy?!" He then immediately embraces his best friend as a way to congratulate him. "So tell me when the wedding is. You know I am always your best man."

"Clyde, calm down. There's still a long time for that. That's not even the problem."

"What is?"

"I…feel…unsure."

"Unsure? Unsure of what?"

"It is a little complicated. We…we're not in the same 'page'."

Even though Lincoln is making it obvious whom he is referring to, Clyde has a hard time deciphering whom or what he is talking about. Gasping, he asks, "You don't have the same favorite book?"

"No, it's not!"

"You paged her but she failed to contact you."

"No, it's Paige. Paige. Paige was there."

Lincoln is about to get haywire in his explanations, but Clyde calms him down. "Easy buddy. Just tell me exactly. What about Paige?"

"Paige…she's at the party. I mean not in the party, but she is in another party. She's at the same venue. And we bumped to each other. And…there."

"So, what about it? Why would that make you feel nervous? Or uneasy?"

Lincoln then sighs, knowing that he has to give up sugar-coating much of his excuses. "I just felt for her, again."

Clyde immediately confronts his best friend, "Don't tell me you are… Lincoln, you just have crossed the line on the boundaries of your relationship. You should have not still bear feelings for Paige. Or else, you and Ronnie Anne will not be in the same page. Okay, pun not intended. But Lincoln, this is bad. Dr. Lopez always warns of looking at one person, then looking at another. It will lead to disaster."

"I know about that. But who can you blame?"

"Lincoln, this is infidelity we are talking about! We're so too young to deal with this!"

"You think?" Lincoln says this with a look of self-deprecated self-awareness to those who are reading this chapter.

Clyde interrupts him by shaking his shoulders. "You shouldn't be doing this, Lincoln!"

"Okay, okay. Get a hold of yourself, Clyde. You're not the victim here."

"Neither are you! Okay, you have two girls falling for you. One is your might-be nemesis who still calls you lame-o. And another is a girl who thinks you are cool. Which is it, Lincoln?!"

But Lincoln is unable to answer the primary question hanging above him. Though he wants to pursue Ronnie Anne, he also sees the implications that might be raised of their differences (and also of the prospect that if Lori and Bobby tied the knot, they will fall in love as in-laws). That already triggered some sense of guilt since he went too far with his relationship with Ronnie Anne as both a girl best friend and a "girlfriend" when he still bears feelings for Paige.

"Look, I'm sorry if I put pressure on you, buddy. But I just want you two to end up in a messy turnout. You, my friend, already went too far. And I don't want to see you take much of the fall." After giving that pep talk, Clyde takes a step back as Lincoln is about to confront the messages from Ronnie Anne.


	30. Another Page-Turner 12: The Breaking

**Just a recap from what happened personally, it did not end well. I had to stop my relationship with my girlfriend, but I told her to wait for the right time to commit 100%.**

 **In the end, we remain good friends who need to balance things out, especially me.**

* * *

His knees are shaking. His eyes are twitching. His teeth are chattering. His hands are trembling. His skin is crawling. And his heart is pumping fast. Lincoln feels that he is in a detrimental hot seat, which would change his life at this turn. Now, with the task of confronting Ronalda Anne Santiago, he is putting his gut forward and following his instincts to handle the situation.

Taking a deep breath like a "man", the 11-year-old navigates his mouse to type his thoughts in the message bar on the message app in his laptop. But he accidentally clicks the video-chat icon, prompting him to dial Ronnie Anne.

Lincoln and Clyde quickly navigate the app, but immediately, Ronnie Anne answers his call.

Her video screen appears before him, as her end tries to gain a better reception. But after a slight interference, Ronnie Anne is able to gain a steady response from the Loud's end. "Lincoln, you there? Where are you?"

Lincoln finally shows up in front of the laptop camera to let him be visible to Ronnie Anne. "Hey!" he greets her with a mumble.

But she cannot hear clearly from her end. " _What was that?_ "

"I just said 'Hey!'" he reiterates.

" _Okay, can you speak aloud? Make your voice louder. I cannot hear back here._ "

"I said 'Hey!'"

" _Okay, I can hear you now. How are you?_ "

"I am good. All good. Very good here."

" _Okay. It's been too long, lame-o. I have been sending you messages throughout the week. Did you see any of them?_ "

Lincoln gets nervous when he is confronted by the obvious elephant in the room. "Well…uh…"

Seeing him in under pressure, Clyde decides to give room for his best friend to cope. "Okay, I'll leave you two alone. Remember buddy, be straight with her. Got it?"

Lincoln nods nervously, which is enough to convince Clyde of keeping that promise.

"Good. Let me know if you said it. I'll prepare the heartbreak starter kit." Clyde then scoots out of the room.

Somehow, Ronnie Anne is able to notice the abrupt break from the discussion. "Who was that?"

"Wha…what?"

"Were you talking to someone there? I saw you."

"Just chill. It was nothing."

" _Was it Clyde?_ "

"Well, you know how sisters can be…it is Clyde."

" _Oh, okay. Just tell him I say 'Hi'. Sill have to get used to his overt personality though._ "

"He is just being Clyde. Being defensive on everything. But he means well." He chuckles nervously, in an attempt to shade his intentions.

" _So, how's it going? Like I asked, were you able to receive my messages?_ "

"Well…uhhh…you see, I had a lot of things going on for the week after the quinceañera that not sure if I have to check my messages."

" _Oh really, busy playing videogames?_ "

"What?! No. I was studying. Yes, I was also getting a lot interested in…a lot of history books that I have to find them online."

" _Right? Alright, but can you explain why Rusty captured a photo of you guys playing RPG?_ "

"What? What photo? How could I possibly play even…"

Right on cue, Ronnie Anne shows him a photo from Rusty's account for a photo-posting social media platform, featuring him pointing to his computer monitor with a shot of Lincoln with his RPG character.

"Ohh…then…" He grunts to himself, "Way to go, Rusty." He then gets back to addressing to Ronnie Anne. "Well, there's some logical explanations surrounding that."

" _Oh yeah? Like what?_ "

"Like uhhh…" But Lincoln can only stutter right in front of Ronnie Anne, making the latter less confident about her best friend's concern.

" _Never mind! Never mind! Don't mind it at all_ ," she says, frustrated. "Just ignore for the messages, if that is what you want."

"Okay, look. Ronnie Anne, okay, I admit that I might have received your messages. But I have to look upon it…later…"

" _Later?!_ "

"No, no. Not that they are the least of my priority. It's just, you know, a lot of things had happened."

" _Just be straight with me Lincoln. Are you avoiding me?_ "

"What?! No. Why would I be avoiding you?"

But Ronnie Anne gives him a serious face that is next to an aggravated expression that Ronnie Anne previously warned him about.

"Oh…"

" _I said be serious with me Lincoln. Were you avoiding me?_ _Be honest with me. It's fine with whatever your answer will be._ "

Even though she is giving him the liberty of expressing his opinions, Lincoln is still hesitant to admit his current feelings for Ronnie Anne. It is only a swirl of adoration and discontentment that keeps confusing him and making him unsure of what to say. On the other hand, he wants to be swayed by the feelings that he and Ronnie Anne mutually gained, and does not want to make a single mistake on their friendship. But on the other, he wants to set their feelings aside and avoid struggles and mistakes that will stem from their growing prepubescent romantic feelings.

Whatever his true thoughts are, Lincoln declares to her, "Look Ronnie Anne, maybe I was overwhelmed by what happened to us during the quinceañera. I don't know what to say after that. Kind of clumsy. Maybe I'm amazed."

" _Are you being cheesy now?_ " Ronnie Anne asks from the other line. " _Because you somehow referenced a song that my mom keeps listening while in the kitchen._ "

"What song? 'Maybe I'm Amazed'?"

" _No. 'Clumsy'. Don't know if that's the real title. But who cares?_ "

"Yeah. But look Ronnie Anne, maybe I got so caught on with us being us. We know we have feelings for each other. And I'm glad we did but…"

Suddenly, from the other line, Ronnie Anne's mom Maria enters her room and tells her, " _Ronalda, we'll be switching off the Internet in a minute. Time to sleep now. We'll be early tomorrow._ "

" _Yes, I will, mama!_ "

Right after, her mom leaves for bed.

Lincoln then asks, "Early tomorrow?"

" _Yeah, forgot to tell you. Me and my mom will be driving to Royal Woods to pick up the last of our stuff in our house. Maybe we could talk in that time. What do you say?_ "

"Great! I mean really good. We are about to see each other…again." Lincoln then projects the best smile he could, but the jitters keep him from not controlling his sweat running down his forehead.

" _Good. We'll be there on 9. See you soon!_ " Just like that, Ronnie Anne drops their video-call and disconnects from the app, giving no reservations for Lincoln to breathe easily.

He groans to himself, "Oh Lincoln, what have you put yourself into?!"

After that, he quietly slams his laptop down and retires to his bed, still carrying the burden of the might-be fate of his relationship with Ronnie Anne. He never tell Clyde what happened. And the worry games keep running.

* * *

The next morning, Lincoln rides his bicycle to the Santiago's former residence, where the house is still unoccupied but a real estate agent puts up a "For Sale" sign at the yard. He notices a sedan parked in front of the house.

The little boy knocks on the door. "Hello?"

The door answers, revealing it to be Ronnie Anne's mom Maria. "Oh Lincoln, you are here."

"Good morning, Mrs. Santiago. So nice to see you visit Royal Woods again," he politely replies.

"Yes, we're just here to pick up some stuff before we completely vacate this house. Did Ronnie Anne told you we will be dropping by here?"

"Well, she did."

Out of the blue, Grandma Rosa, who insisted on accompanying her daughter to Royal Woods, taps Lincoln's shoulder from the back and greets him. "I knew it. I knew it. Ronalda would always tell her favorite boyfriend about her adventures."

"Grandma Rosa, we're just friends," he asserts.

"Don't worry, Lincoln. You're always welcome," Maria tells him. "She's upstairs. But better not enter her room. I will not tolerate that."

Right as she gives him the signal, he climbs upstairs to see Ronnie Anne sorting out photos from a box that is wrapped with bright red construction paper. "Hey…"

Hearing him, Ronnie Anne turns to him and replies, "Hey!"

"What you got there?" he asks.

"Oh, just photos from long ago," she answers.

"Can I see?" Lincoln then looks at the glossy print photos, which came from Ronnie Anne's time as a kindergartener. There are some photos featuring Ronnie Anne is girly dresses, to which Lincoln takes a chuckle on but Ronnie Anne gets annoyed of. But most of all, Lincoln catches a photo of Ronnie Anne with her presumed father. (But his face was ripped off from the photograph.) "Is this…?"

After he shows that particular photo to her, Ronnie Anne swipes it from him and places it back to the box. "Nothing. It's…just nothing."

"Was it…your dad?"

When she hears that question, Ronalda's past jolts in her gut. Her memories return at that moment.

The way she swipes it makes Lincoln realize the reason why he never sees or hears about Ronnie Anne's father. With that, he apologizes, "Sorry, if I asked. You don't need to answer." He then chooses to walk back down to avoid the confrontation.

Suddenly, Ronnie Anne voices out her thoughts, "Do you get the feeling of having the best times of your life with the best people you know?"

"What?"

"Answer me, Lincoln. Do you get that feeling?"

"Yeah?"

"Good. And then somehow, one day, you discovered that one thing that makes for the best times in life suddenly disappear. Nowhere where he went or how. You wanted answers, but what you got was the opposite of a best time. Do you get that feeling?" Her breath cannot hold the escalating drama that brings heaviness in her. Ronnie Anne breaks down in tears, just as she subtly reveals the real backstory of her father.

Lincoln immediately comes to the aid for Ronnie Anne. He clings to her shoulder and taps her back to let her tears soothe down. She then leans her watered eyes to his left shoulder. Though he intends to reveal his true intentions for her, he sets it aside to comfort his closest female friend.

Minutes go by, and Ronnie Anne rests upon Lincoln's shoulder.

Lincoln then points towards to the readers of the chapter, saying, "I know I wanted to say everything I need to say. But a friend in need is a friend indeed. So I have to. But trust me, things got worse."


	31. Messy Epilogue 1: The Return

_Years later…January 31, 2026_

Fast forward to the epilogue, Lincoln travels by car back to Royal Woods, Michigan for the first ever reunion by the Batch '16 class of Royal Woods Elementary School, having just finished his trip to Canada. He has not been to Royal Woods for a long time, as he has been side-lining as a travel photographer and a telemarketer. After his breakup with Paige, he has been going to gigs in one city at a time. He still contacts his siblings, only one by one, as they had gone on with their separate ways. (Save it for Lola, Lana, Lisa and Lily who have yet to reach legal age to be independent.)

For now, he savors the time he had

Before he drops by at the school for registration, he stops by at his house for lunch. He parks near the garage where the Vanzilla still stands. Lincoln cannot help but recall the times that he and his sisters spent time with the renowned Volkswagen van.

"Sure is a beauty," he utters. He then steps out of his orange Pagani Huayra and into the house.

From the window above, 11-year-old Lily Loud jumps in excitement seeing her brother drop by. "Big brother's home! Big brother's home!" She then rushes from out of her room (the same room she has with Lisa since Lisa is currently occupying Luna and Luan's room) and heads to the door to greet him. As he enters the house, Lily immediately hugs him, "Big brother, we missed you!"

"Hey there Lily," Lincoln greets her and hugs her back. "I missed you too."

"Come on brother!" She then takes Lincoln's hand and leads him to the dinner table. "Tell me all about the trip."

"Nothing much really," Lincoln shares. "It's all Canada. You guys been to Canada, right?"

"Yeah, it was just Toronto," Lily replies. "They were too polite."

"I know right?"

As she takes her to the dinner table where he sees the table fully set with a fine tablecloth, golden candlesticks, silver utensils, wineglasses and porcelain plates. The middle part of the table is reserved for the food that Lynn Sr. will serve, along with some wine for those in legal age (meaning Lincoln to Lori).

But Lincoln, even with obvious number of chairs, is clueless as to who the table is for. "What's the occasion here?" he asks Lily.

"Don't you know?" Lily then drags him to the trophy cabinet that has been recently transferred in the dinner premises. She then points to the trophy she recently won.

Lincoln reads, "1st Place in Spelling. Statewide."

"Right? Right!" Lily squeals in delight.

The then 21-year-old thinks that Lily might have informed him once about her recent accomplishment. Not wanting to let her down, he masks himself to be knowledgeable over Lily's victory, "Oh yeah, right. That's you've been telling me online."

Lily then clarifies, "I texted you about it."

"Ohh…text…right. Yeah, you texted me. I must have forgotten about it."

The then 11-year-old finally finds out that her brother never thought or never bothered to check about Lily and her recent life. "I see. Never mind." She then walks away from him in dismay.

"Lily, look…"

"I got excited to tell you guys when I won the trophy. I guess it didn't matter to anyone, even you."

"No, it's not it."

Lily soon breaks down in tears and heads to the living room to sob it off.

Lincoln follows otherwise. "Lily." He shakes her to consolation, to no avail.

Since the Louds have been entirely separated for quite some time, Lily wanted to share her recent spelling bee win with her siblings. But they were unable to reply, including Lincoln. Thus, she pleads to her parents to let her celebrate her victory by bring the family back together. This explains the occasion that Lincoln has no idea of.

Speaking of, he tries to explain everything to her, "Look Lily, you know how my work is. I've been busy a lot that I have no time…Okay, it's not that I don't want time to spend with you or even the rest of our sisters. But it's just…I wanted to but…"

His explanation does not help as Lily keeps on crying, almost like the same manner she did when she was a baby.

Lincoln thinks of offering her money. But he realizes materials wealth does not help console someone's feelings, as if that is not obvious enough. Eventually, he recalls previous memories from his beloved 11-year-old childhood. And with that, one song struck with him.

" _Cheer up baby, don't you cry. No more tears, it's cheer up time. Laugh with me and you will be happy, happy, happy…_ " he serenades to her.

Suddenly, she begins to hold her tears.

Lincoln hugs her and sings to her one more time, " _Cheer up baby, don't you cry. No more tears, it's cheer up time. Laugh with me and you will be happy, happy, happy._ "

"One more…" she utters.

With that, he willingly sings, "Cheer up baby, don't you cry. No more tears, it's cheer up time. Laugh with me and you will be happy, happy, happy…"

Lily wipes her tears until she holds her breath. "You know brother, I'm old for those. But thank you."

She then embraces her, making him return the embrace.

Lincoln then thinks of an idea, "Hey, wanna go with me?"

* * *

With that, Lincoln takes Lily for a brief drive around the suburbs. He actually intends to take her to the ice cream parlor. Though, Lily finds it enough to stick her head outside of the window and let her tongue flow with the wind.

"Look Linky!" she calls to her brother's attention.

"Don't stick out your head that much," Lincoln advises her.

Lincoln's drive takes them to tree-filled streets wherein Lily tries to grasp on the dangling twigs like catching fireflies.

"Having fun there?" he asks.

"I never done this before, brother!" she exclaims.

Seeing her content, he decelerates the Pagani for Lily to get a good play of the trees. His average speed lets him savor the house that still stand even as he left Royal Woods. There are a lot of beige houses that he stumbles upon. Some are still occupied. A few are sold to real estate agents. And there is one that strikes familiar. He stops at the house with a distinctive pale blue paint on it. A "for sale" post remains on the yard. And the front door and the screen door are still open. Lincoln wonders how a very familiar house would be abandoned like that.

"Lincoln, where are you going?" Lily asks him. "You know who lives there?"

"I guess so," he softly replies. He touches the screen door and pushes it to get access inside. His memories ring true as he recalls the time in the episode "Shell Shock" where he apologized to his best friend about jeopardizing their homework. The house was indeed formerly from the Santiagos who have stayed in their apartment in the great city ever since. But now, it is subjected for sale but has been left in stride.

Seeing it wide open, Lincoln knocks on the door. "Hello? Anyone here?" He knocks the door one more time until he opens the two doors wide.

As he enters the house, he sees it filled with furniture wrapped with plastic. Presumably, the house is being refurnished after being abandoned. He checks in the kitchen and sees the same thing: packaged items that have yet to be placed.

It is almost eerie to explore every part of the house as it recalls that time at his past:

 _When Ronnie Anne and her mother visited Royal Woods to pick up the rest of their stuff, Lincoln decides to pay his friend a visit. He was supposed to get straight with Ronnie Anne on his relationship with her. However, when he went upstairs, he spotted her browsing through old photos from her childhood, including one that featured her father._

 _Those made her recall how he left them and caused her to tears. Lincoln had no other choice but to console his friend and set his intentions aside. He found it too perilous to spill the beans otherwise._

 _Nevertheless, what happened after was something Lincoln regretted._

But much like what happened before, Lincoln walks upstairs and finds more wrapped décor and furnishings around the house. He almost would have thought that with the house being sold by a realtor, he would expect a little furnishing. However, when he takes one step, the 21-year-old hears the wooden floor creaking. He presses his right foot harder and stomps the same spot softly. He realizes that a secret hatch must be under him. And through his memories, it was not just any secret hatch of any house.

He hunches down and slides off the carpet below him to uncover the wooden floor. He taps on the spot where he heard the creaking and digs on the wooden edges for possible traces of the hatch.

In one firm gap, he inserts a fingernail and lifts up the floorboard, revealing the hatch itself. What is in it is a valuable but hurtful item: Ronnie Anne's box of photos from before. He browses through the photos and sees the exact same photos he saw before. But one of them is a new entry to the box. He takes it and glances on the story behind it. It was a Polaroid photo featuring him and Ronnie Anne on the spot where they sat together. He then recognizes his handwriting, quoted "LL & RS, Forever Since 2016".

Sooner, he breaks down into tears, feeling how those words actually meant for him and also for Ronnie Anne. It is hard to recall a promise like that and realize it not being fulfilled. He wipes his tears and puts the box back in the hatch.

"I'm sorry Ronnie Anne. I'm sorry."

Suddenly, the realtor arrives from the bedroom and recognizes him, "Lincoln Loud? Is that you?"

"Who are you?" Lincoln asks.

The realtor then steps out of the shadows to reveal herself as an old flame of his.

"Stella? Is that really you?"


	32. Messy Epilogue 2: The Yearning

_Years later…January 31, 2026_

Lincoln is so surprised to see one of his friends from his childhood to appear right before his eyes. But the 21-year-old is so star-struck that he cannot help but mumble his way while he returns the box to the wooden floor hatch. "Stella, hey! You're here! You're here now. What are you doing here in this house?"

"Uhmmm I am selling this house?" Stella answers. "I'm a real estate agent, you see."

"Oh. That explains the sign outside."

"I'm just trying to refurbish this house into something new. It needs a little maintenance like the ceiling from the bathroom."

"Oh, I see."

"What are you doing here, Lincoln?"

"Oh, uhmmm just saw the door open. I actually been to this house a long time."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Came from an old friend. She was a great friend. Until I never get to see her again."

"Oh…sorry about that."

"No worries. I think we're in good terms."

"So, how's news for you? Heard that you were travelling around the country?"

"Yeah, I was. When there's a gig, that's where I kick in. If not, telemarketing all the way."

"Telemarketing, eyy? That doesn't explain the Stradivarius getup and the Hugo Boss cologne."

"What? It's just my style. I love the way I dress."

Stella then looks out on the window to see Lincoln's Pagani Huayra. "And a Pagani?"

"That's a 2017 model. I just bought it from eBay," he explains.

"eBay, eyy? I rarely buy stuff from eBay now. I just stream movies and TV shows there. I think I finished a whole twelfth season of _The Handmaid's Tale_ there."

"Really? I think I watched _Handmaid's Tale_ from Snapchat TV."

"Kind of weird that Snapchat is now making TV shows."

"Yeah. Times are a-changing."

"Exactly. Well, not for me. I did find my footing here in Royal Woods. But I don't know."

"You don't know what?"

"I guess I felt too comfortable here that there's nowhere else to go."

"I see."

"I mean I have dreams like that and all. But it kind of strikes me that I was happy here in Royal Woods. So I never left."

The two then hangout by the window, where Stella has a good view of the sprawling city, as well as the suburbs around them. Long while, she notices Lily sticking her head out of the window. "Is that your sister?"

"Yep. That's Lily, alright. She's still fun to be with. It kind of felt a long time seeing her again."

"It kind of took a while for you to return."

"Yeah well Lily wants the whole family to return for dinner. She really gets excited, wanting to see us together like the good old days."

"Do you miss those days?"

When Stella asks that, Lincoln feels a nerve striking him to the heart. He keeps his memories running in his mind of moments with his sisters and times with his friend. It really is a wonderful trip to memory lane. It gets more poignant when he returns to the same neighborhood he grew up on, most especially the house where his former love resided. "They were fun. I never regretted any of them."

Stella then smiles at him. "Well, I guess I have to get back to work then."

"Oh, where you at this time?"

"Well, I arranged the deliveries to redecorate the house. The bed, the utensils, all the housewares, it's all me."

"Have you been successful lately in real estate?"

"Well, there are times where I get to sell these condo units. I kept stressing that the complex that they are in have celebrities. And they do. It was a hard sell to say the least."

"I can tell. Royal Woods may not be much. But I can tell it's a hard sell if you just want to live here. But if you have a job here like the ones from Google Toys and Dunder-Mifflin Telecom, I guess you would want to stay here."

"I see your point. Some houses here in this neighborhood, I sold them to new families."

"You did?"

"Yep. Check it out." Stella then shows Lincoln her real estate portfolio, which features the housing units that she endorsed and sold to lucky clients, mostly of which are Asian nationalities and blue-collar workers with families. "Ever since some of Detroit's businesses moved here, I really presented myself as 'Hey, I'm the agent you need to give you the best houses in the market'. So, it took a while to get clients. And it's going swimmingly. I mean I have this house refurnished, so that's a plus."

"Kind of great that you had this success. I'm really proud of you."

"Awww thanks Lincoln!" She then hugs her white-haired friend. "If it weren't for you and the gang, your support and motivation and all, I would have just stayed on a desk-bound job."

"Was that secretary thing all about? From the post online?"

"Yep. The story behind is that. My friends think I'm photogenic, saying that's a perfect for secretary positions. So they gave me offers. But the kind of offers there are for tanning salons, pedicure centers and pet grooming studio. I mean not to complain about their offers. I'm glad they did. But why those places of all things. Well, I've been polite to them. So, I said 'No thanks. I think I'm good selling houses'.

"That's kind of a first from you, hearing someone call you photogenic."

"Why? Don't you think I'm photogenic?"

"Not to give the bad idea. I mean you're beautiful and cute. But photogenic is a little broad. It's like I'm associating you like a cover girl. That's kind of the case."

However, Stella blushes when she heard Lincoln tell her that she is cute. That single word alone triggers an emotional response that she kind of carried back in their elementary days. "You just called me 'cute' again?"

"What? Did I called you 'cute' before?"

"Yeah, it was like five times you told me I am cute. I know that because Liam and Rusty were counting the times you said that to me. They like joked around about it when you were not around."

"Oh. Well…" Lincoln stutters. "I was just saying that yes, you're beautiful. I just don't want to give you the wrong idea."

Stella then spills the entire bean bag. "You're cute too. Even as you've grown, you're still cute."

When he heard those words, Lincoln takes a smile at it. Just the urge of his emotions makes him close his eyes and points his lips at her. He is not expecting anything from her.

But the emotions are just making their hearts beat faster and the skins warmer.

Slowly, Stella presses her lips at him. And they both kiss for the first time to each other. It is one moment that closes four years of yearning.

* * *

Meanwhile, Lily is growing restless on waiting for her brother inside the car when she receives a text from Lana. Right on time, Lincoln walks out of the house with a slight uneasiness over what just happened inside.

"Big brother, what took you so long?" Lily asks him.

"Nothing. You don't need to know," Lincoln replies as he enters the driver's seat.

"Hey, Lana texted back when I texted them that you returned home. They told us to fetch them at the mall."

But Lincoln remains motionless, unable to get over what happened inside the house. Little by little, he zones out to a realm of emotional confusion and spiraling infatuation.

Suddenly, Lily slams his shoulders to snap him out. "Big brother, didn't you hear me?"

"What was that?"

"We need to fetch Lana and Lola at the mall. I've been trying to tell you!"

"Right. Right. Where they are?"

"At the mall. I've been telling you all over again."

"Right. Alright."

But at the looks of it, Lily thinks her big brother is anything but alright. So she asks him, "Lincoln, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am," he says. "Let's go." He then starts the car and proceeds to drive with reservations.

When the two arrive at the mall, Lincoln treats Lily for a pretzel-shaped bacon pastry. Lily chows down the pizza-tasting delectable while her brother endlessly stares at the distance. He could just imagine anything like the state-of-the-art fountains, the bustling shoppers, the maintenance cleaners and the roaming sales clerks who are selling loans to unsuspecting visitors.

But right now, he cannot help but run thoughts on what happened a while ago.

 _Flashback_

 _After they kiss, Lincoln stands up, with his feet landing exactly where the hatch is. He assists Stella up. Stella cannot help but stick her eyes towards Lincoln's._

" _I always knew you would remain cute," she says. She then kisses Lincoln deeply that they inexplicably enter a bedroom with the plastic covers still wrapped._

 _Lincoln responds by kissing her deeper. He wraps his arms around her. But as he embraces her, the outgrown millennial realizes that he still has the Polaroid photo on his hand. It may be nothing but his memory traces the promise that he supposed to keep for a long time but did not._

" _Stella, Stella, can you…" Lincoln tries to stop her, to no avail. She wants to kiss him deeper. But he rolls himself away from the bed but lands face down to the floor._

" _Lincoln, are you alright?"_

" _Yeah, I'm fine." As he gets up, Lincoln disclaims to Stella, "Okay, maybe we're going too far on this. Not to discourage you or anything."_

" _Did I kiss…bad?"_

" _No. I meant yes. I meant no. It's not that. I mean. What I mean is you are a great girl, Stella. But I don't think I want to go this far."_

" _Why? Are you afraid of me?"_

" _What? No! I'm not."_

" _Was it you are afraid to make a mistake again?"_

" _Stella, it's not about that."_

" _Was it why you promised to never go back to Royal Woods? You were too afraid on admitting that you broke someone's promise?"_

" _Stella, don't do this."_

" _Oh yes Lincoln, I want to this as a friend who keeps telling you to be a man and go back to her, even though this girl wants her heart broken to pieces!"_

 _From that, it becomes clear in Lincoln's ears: Stella genuinely loves Lincoln that she decides to let go of him for the girl he actually likes. That kind of thought bugs him as Stella curls herself to the unwrapped bed foam while he stands motionless._

" _I…I'm sorry. Really…"_

" _Just see you at the reunion." With that, Stella buries her head in deep despair. She waits for Lincoln to leave awkwardly. But before he does, he places his photo in his back pocket and closes the door._

 _End of Flashback_


	33. Messy Epilogue 3: The Flashes

_Years later…January 31, 2026_

Lily notices her big brother staring blankly into space. She snaps her fingers in front of him. But he is not receptive of them. "Linky! Linky!" in the last resort, she moves near to his left ear and screams, "BIG BROTHER!"

Right away, he responds by dropping to the cold mall floor, "AHHHHHHHHHH! Lily, don't do that to my ear."

"But you were zoning out there for a sec," she replies with concern.

"Me? No, why was I zoning out?"

Lily then shows him a photo of himself staring weirdly. His eyes twitch as they try to stay still. His mouth slowly opens. And his eyelids shakes back and forth.

"Oh."

"Big brother, is there something wrong?"

"No Lily, there's nothing wrong."

"Come on, big brother."

But Lincoln keeps his face glued to the food court table, trying to contemplate what happened a while ago.

Not wanting to see him too troubled, Lily shares to him, "You know big brother, whenever I see dad in his down times, he would deny that he has a problem. But I know he has. But I didn't want to push him to share me his troubles. So sorry. But I can tell if he has a problem and if you have a problem. So, big brother, I hope you are doing fine." With that, the youngest sister gives him a warm embrace. "It's okay, brother."

Lincoln, in turn, embraces his sister. Her arms around him give him warmth and assurance that his family will always be there for him.

Their tender moment is however interrupted when someone familiar bumps in.

"Awww that's so adorable, bro."

Lincoln turns to see his beloved sister Lana, with her twin sister Lola behind her and busy on the phone. He immediately takes her by the hand and joins her in their embrace. "I missed you too."

"Good to see you, bro," she replies. Her appearance is distinctively similar when she was just a 6-year-old. Only at this time, her wardrobe is composed of a greenish gray shirt, denim overalls, sneakers and a red plaid jacket tied to her waist. "We missed you a whole lot. So does Lola" She then turns to her twin sister who is entirely occupied on her phone, talking to her fellow pageant friends. "Yeah, well she's kind of busy. She's representing our school for the statewide pageant. And rumors say that she's a huge bet for nationwide."

"Wow, that seems a big deal," he replies. "So, shall we?"

"Tell Lola."

Lincoln then approaches his sister, while Lana tucks in Lily. "Hey Lola…"

Right on time, Lola finishes her call, "Okay. Good enough. Just make sure that the delivery will be here on time. Okay. Bye." Her getup separates from her 6-year-old self, but is nearly similar to her outfit before. She is on a pink skirt, ruffled pink skirt, white heels, bracelets, pink headband clipping her straight blond hair and white earrings. Despite his assumptions, she is not in full makeup, as he spotted her experimenting with makeup when she was eleven years old. After her call, she instantly notices Lincoln, "Ohh. They you are, Lincoln. Now, let's load the car now. I have been carrying a lot of shopping bags, you know."

"I missed you too, Lola," he says to her.

"Good. Now, let's go," Lola acts snobbishly as she points her phone to her face.

Lincoln is kind of troubled to see Lola act vehemently like a millennial. He then notices her dozens of shopped items, most of which involved shoes and bags. "Man, Lola, this is a lot."

"Get used to it," Lana replies while she grips on Lily. "I was the one who carried her stuff along."

With that said, Lincoln helps load all of Lola's shopping bags to the trunk of his Pagani. Lola ends up sitting on the front of the car, while Lana and Lily sit on the back. "Okay let's go." He fastens his seatbelt but still notices Lola on her phone. "Lola, seatbelt?"

"Just go. I'll be in a minute."

Regardless of her attitude, Lincoln drives them off the mall. Since there is still spare time before dinner, Lincoln thinks of various ways to bond with his little siblings. "So guys, let's say we drop by for some ice cream? Or do you want any Cubanos?"

"Cubanos? Never had those in a while," Lana replies as Lily pounces on her. The two siblings have been playing with the pillows on the back of his car.

"Just because mom won't let you have a calories in your blood, moron," Lola stubbornly replies.

"Hey! I've been taking up a blueberry diet, you know?"

"So, how about you Lola?" Lincoln asks her.

"Nah, anything. Just hope we make it two hours before dinner. I have to prepare my outfit."

"Okay." To surprise them, Lincoln then drives them to a nearby outdoor food complex. However, a lot of people are lining up on the various food trucks that set up on the field. "Okay…"

"Maybe we could go for drive-thru," Lana suggests.

"Yeah, that's better." Lincoln then follows Lana's suggestion. "Never seen that many people in Royal Woods."

"Haven't you heard about the population boom, bro?"

"I did."

"Well, there you go. Jobs went here. A lot of people went here. So, a lot of people squeeze themselves in one single space. That's fact."

"Well, kind of surprising."

"Sure is," Lola snobbishly replies. "Let's just go get to the drive-thru and go home."

"Don't worry. Everything is cool. We're cool." Lincoln then drives to the next Burpin' Burger along the highway. He orders full burger meals for the three of them. "Here you go." The then 21-year-old hands one meal for Lola. "Here you go, Lola."

"Having a little bit," she replies. "I need to maintain a good figure for next month's photoshoot."

He then hands her curly fries, served with cheese sauce, bacon bits, taco toppings, little nacho chips and parmesan cheese on the sides. "Well, I thought you might mind."

"HAH!" she gasps. Lola has her eyes fixated when she sees the scrumptious serving of the curly fries that she cannot help but squirm on the inside. "Can't! I'm on a health kick right now. But…" Immediately, she grabs the pack of curly fries and munches some to her mouth. Her munches are so aggressive that Lana and Lily freeze and witness their sister go haywire on her diet. Even since she was a prepubescent, Lola was known to be a disciplinarian on dieting, having been advised by Lori. However, they also caught her skipping her diet on several occasions. But she was never aggressive on food, unlike this instance. "What?! I never have curly fries before! So beat it!"

"You have your burger here."

But as he hands over her burger meal, Lola grabs it immediately.

"Easy there, sis. We still have dinner to wait."

Lily then shares, "Yeah, speaking of, we still have time left before it. Maybe we could hang out more. I can just wear that red dress I wore last spelling bee."

This brings an immediate concern to Lola. "Oh no. You're not going out on that purple dress again. Why you don't like it?"

"Not that I don't like it. But you used it for your spelling bee. And using it again tonight for this special occasion would be nothing special."

"Well, I could add braid on my hair to make it special."

"I'll tell you what. I have a dress at the back that looks perfect for you. Let's try on it. Then, maybe can go for bowling."

"Bowling?" Lincoln and Lana shriek in surprise.

"Just for an hour while I prep Lily here."

On that cue, Lincoln drives the car towards the Royal Woods' Bowling Center. Upon their arrival, Lola takes her handy makeup kit from the trunk and two of her dresses for Lily, while Lincoln and Lana sign up for an hour session of bowling.

"Sis, I'm not sure if one of your dresses will fit me," Lily says.

"Relax, they are your size," Lola assures. "I intended to buy them for you in case you would mention about reusing your dress."

"Oh."

"I know you, Lily. Let's go." The two of them walk inside to the women's bathroom.

Back with Lincoln and Lana, they wear their specialized bowling shoes and take turns rolling the ball on the lane. Lana gets her first roll, but it misses. She takes her second roll, but it misses again.

"Oh, dang it!" Lana grunts.

Lincoln advises her, "You just have to relax your hand and let it roll. And make sure to aim straightly to the pins. That way, you can get a strike."

"Got it." As another bowling pins are added, Lana rolls another ball, but it misses. Though at her second ball, she manages to strike two pins her, turning in a spare.

"That's good. Just keep on trying," Lincoln tells her.

With that, she follows the same she did before, striking down the pins on the same direction. But they only turn in for four or less hits on the pins. "Oh man, never gonna knock them."

"Let me," Lincoln says. "Never been a bowling guy. But I always know how to strike firmly." He then throws the ball, making it hit to the front pin. He grunts. But as he gets his second turn to strike, the ball hits the rest of the pins, turning in to a spare. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"

Lola then returns to the two. "Hey guys, what I missed?"

"Lincoln got a spare," Lana reports.

"Where's Lily?" Lincoln asks.

"Oh. She was doing some final touches. She will be ready."

Lincoln then gives the floor for Lola to do her own rounds. She takes the ball and just throws it on the lane, making it hit all the pins at the end. Lincoln's and Lana's jaw are dropped at this amazing feat.

"Strike there. Don't need for applause," she brags. But as she opens her eyes, she notices Lily emerging out of the women's room from a distance. "Here she is!"

Lincoln and Lena then direct their eyes towards their younger sister who is smoothly blooming on her adolescent period. Apart from the little touches of foundation and pale lipstick, Lily is wearing a purple sleeveless chiffon dress. She walks to her siblings, flailing her dress among them. "This looks fabulous, Lola."

"It's a good fit for dinner, later. Trust me," Lola approves.

But Lincoln is rather startled with Lily's outfit. "Yeah…" It is actually that apart from the design, her dress is so reminiscent of one dress from a good friend of his. Lincoln cannot help but recall it at that moment.

 _Flashback from Chapter 4: Anticipation_

 _Lincoln enters Carlota's room to get a glimpse of Ronnie Anne in a dress. His eyes cannot waver away from the sight of his loyal friend in a purple sleeveless chiffon dress. All of the aspects of the dress are against what Ronnie Anne is as a person. The girly-girl fashion senses seem too placid for the tomboyish senorita. But Lincoln looks at this sight like finding a priced treasure buried in the deep. He can see her unique radiance glowing around her._

 _On the other hand, Ronnie Anne never sees this and never notices Lincoln to be so attracted to her. "This is such a mess. Carlota really wants to decorate like I'm some kind of cake. I told her I can just take a suit. But no. She keeps insisting that I 'need to look so fabulous' 'cause I am going to be one of the people to dance at the center. Why go anywhere with this…?"_

 _Lincoln abruptly compliments her, "You look nice."_

 _Ronnie Anne fails to hear him. "What?"_

" _I said you look nice," Lincoln reiterates._

 _Ronnie Anne becomes speechless at what she had heard from Lincoln._

 _End of Flashback_

After that, Lincoln vehemently walks away from the sisters towards the men's room.

Lily notices, "Lincoln? Where are you going? Lincoln!"

"What's up with him?" Lana asks.

"I don't know. He's been acting like that a while ago. I don't know what he's going through. So I just gave him a hug."


	34. Messy Epilogue 4: The Redemption

_Years later…January 31, 2026_

The 21-year-old Lincoln Loud cowers inside the single-cubicle men's restroom, still resting on the broken promises he broke in the past. His thoughts keep running and running in his head, unable to shake it out of his head.

He hears whispers from his past, condemning him even more. They keep hollering, "Why Lincoln? Why? Why you did?"

"Stop it, stop it," he keeps mumbling. But the voices keep bouncing back.

They almost feel coordinated to chant to him hauntingly. Over and over, they go louder. Over and over, his feet are firm to the ground. Over and over, his fists are gripped hard. Until…he bangs the door with his two hands.

But at the same time, Lana knocks on the door to the men's room, prompting him to snap out. "Lincoln, Lincoln, are you alright in there?"

"It's fine, Lana. I'm just having…thinking about something," Lincoln tells her.

"Well, explain that to Lily. She's worried about you."

Upon learning that, Lincoln slams himself to the wall. Hiding your problems is one thing, but making that fact obvious to your siblings is another. He could only sigh deeply. He again pulls out his Polaroid photograph with Ronnie Anne, letting the memories run back to him once more. It could be a lot easier if Lincoln would just shrug it off. But it does not.

On the other side of the bathroom door, Lola, Lana and Lily lean their ears to the fiberglass platform to try to listen what their brother is up to.

"Can you hear him?" Lana asks them.

But Lola backs out. "Nahh, this is pointless. Lincoln's probably in his emo phase."

"Hey, don't be like that to our big brother!" Lily tells her. "That's mean!"

"Yeah, as if that is new from me," Lola ignorantly implies, which angers Lily. "Okay, fine. Sorry." Convinced by her own baby sister, the then sixteen-year-old bangs the bathroom. "Lincoln, by law, we are not allowed in a men's room. Just whatever is you are going through, we can talk this out at home. Maybe mom and dad or our sisters might get worried. Just saying…because Lily is worried to." Lola hopes that this would convince him to get out of the bathroom. But she shrugs it off, "Well, I tried. Lincoln's going moody in there."

After a deep sigh of despair, Lily convinces her brother, "Linky, if you are worried, I am worried to. I don't want you to be worried. Please don't be." After a minute or two and nothing from him, she leans her desperately to the door.

Fortunately, Lincoln overheard her. And her words struck a chord in him that he has no other choice.

Meanwhile, back in the still standing Loud house, the 23-year-old Lynn Loud just arrives home from the airport. She is still on her jogging top and her sweatpants as she burst from the door and greets everyone inside, "Your gal Lynn Loud is in the building!" She then notices the living room and the dining room empty. "And I'm talking to nobody. Hello!"

But as she steps on one wooden tile, a pie launches to her face. She immediately knows who planted that prank. "Luan! I know you're here!"

Cue for the 24-year-old prankster to emerge from the staircase with her boyfriend Benny. "Hahahaha! You say hello while I say good-pie! Hehehe!"

"Still the same old sister, you are," Lynn mockingly tells her. She then playfully takes her head and nudges her hair. "Still a prankster."

"Okay, Lynn, stop it," Luan says as she tries to hold her laughter. "Oh, this is Benny by the way."

"Lynn Loud." Lynn then spits to the palm of her right hand and shakes Benny's hand. "In case you must know, I am the best from this family."

"Get used to her, in spit of her behaviour," Luan jokes at him.

"Well…" Benny utters.

"So, what you've been up to?" Lynn asks Luan.

"Well, doing stand-up in New York and LA. And been with this funny guy for some time." She then playfully crosses her arm around Benny's neck, just to play around him.

"Lucky for you. But no time for love for me, yet. Have to finish my 10th Ironman challenge this year." The athlete then boasts her physique by carrying her dumbbell in front of them.

"Well, that sure carries a lot of weight. Hehehe. Get it?"

Abruptly, the doorbell rings, causing Lynn to accidentally slip the dumbbell out from her right hand. "Woah! Little help!" But Luan and Benny do not mind.

"I'll get it!" The former opens the door to see Lisa in her green sweater, plaid skirt and black slacks.

"Oh, must be in the erroneous residence," Lisa comically tells them.

"Good to see you, Lis," Luan greets her, then gives her a hug.

"Not at all a wonderful pleasure. I have to get an immediate flight for the two days."

"What for?"

"I am chosen as one of the representatives to be part of Model United Nations where actual UN representatives will be observing and judging who the best representative is."

"Sounds like a big time class, eyy?"

"Affirmative. Now, where is the banquet?"

"Mom and dad is busy preparing the food."

Three minutes after Lisa's appearance, the now 25-year-old Luna arrives via her rock band's RV. She walks to the Loud house with her guitar and her carry-on amplifier. Luan, Lynn and Benny are just amazed at Luna's new appearance: clean-cut hair, long purple shirt and black leather pants.

"Well, well, rocker on tour," Lynn greets her after adjusting her arms to lifting her weights.

"How's it going dudes?" Luna greets back.

"All's well now," Luan answers, "Mom and dad are just finishing up the feast."

"Good. Well, I'll just be in the table. I need to leave tonight right away."

"Leave? But why?"

"Our tour has just moved a day earlier than intended. Had to appear in Vegas tomorrow. Sorry dudes." She then just takes one seat from the table and leans to listen to her headphones.

Luan and Benny become uneasy with Luna's sudden isolation. The former receives a lot of news from Luna and her rather bohemian lifestyle that causes her to become distant from her family.

But it does not deter Lynn. "Woah, have you seen her first performance at her Duluth show? It's kind of awesome. I got into their sound.

All the while, Leni arrives in a sundress and a giant hat. The 26-year-old has been acting like a crazy, rich aunt who is so much into fashion. And she could not stop bragging about it. "Hey guys!"

"Leni, is that you?" Lynn asks.

"Why yes. It's me. I'm Leni. And you are?"

"Uhhhh…"

"Oh, I'm just kidding Lynn! I still know who you are!"

"So, how's the runway?" Luan asks her.

"Oh, it was fun, both the airport and the fashion one." After she places her stroller inside, Leni announces to everyone. "Okay, everyone, I have an important news. Guess who will be one of the headliners for Royal Woods Fashion Week?"

"No way!" Luan exclaims.

"Yes, way. Also, I was just tasked to make up for the theme for the Fashion Week. And found a genius to help me work with it."

"And who that might be?"

Leni then presents her newest partner for her fashion line-up. Signalling from the lightning strikes and the thunder rolls, the siblings get the impression that it might be someone unsettling.

Sure enough, the 18-year-old Lucy appears from the door, wearing Leni's all-black cocktail dress. "Black is beautiful."

"Lucy?" the remaining sisters utter?

"Yep, I heard Lucy doing one of her slam poetry stuff during an arts show. And the producers loved it! So, we have her model."

"While everyone dies seeing Leni's dresses," Lucy creepily says, which impresses the rest.

Eventually, Lincoln, Lana, Lola and Lily arrive at the house, bringing some gifts inside.

"Hi guys!"

Their entrance becomes rather celebratory. Lily greets Luan with a pecks on the cheek. Lana and Lynn do fist-pumps to each other. And Lola dives to the couch, exhausted from their trip, and eventually chats with Lola. But Lincoln just dumps some of the items they bought to a corner table in the dining room.

Lily exclaims, "So good of you guys to be here! Okay, we just have to wait for Lori to arrive. And we can start the celebration!"

Secretly, Lincoln walks to the kitchen. But he sees that a door has been installed to what was supposed to be an open entrance. He opens the door but finds it locked.

"You have been gone for a while," Lucy suddenly tells him, appearing from out of nowhere.

"Lucy, will that appear-disappear thing last for a lifetime?"

"It's a gift that will never be taken away. What has happened to you?"

"It's complicated, Lucy."

"Life's complicated. Our sisters' lives are complicated. What makes it different to you?"

"It's just…it's just there's some things that I have to handle on my own."

"Well, I think that answers it. You want to handle your problems on your own. But at the cost of ignoring your family. Lily has been worried about you, ever since you left and broke your promise to come back. But I'll be patient with you." Lucy then walks out from him, returning to her sisters.

After that, a dire Lincoln knocks on the door to the kitchen.

This prompts Lynn Sr. to answer from the other side, " _The chef is still busy. Please answer later._ "

" _Lynn, you're not the only chef in here,_ " Rita tells him.

"Mom, dad, it's me," Lincoln tells them.

When they heard about that, a much older Lynn and Rita Loud open the kitchen door to see their prodigal son, looking guilt-ridden and desperate.

"Mom, dad, I…"

Before he can finish, they immediately embrace him and welcome him inside.

"Lincoln, we missed you," Rita tells her son as she hugs him tightly.

"Yeah, son," Lynn Sr. adds. "We've been waiting for this moment.

"Mom, dad, I just felt kind of guilty for going back," Lincoln says.

"Aww you are our son. We don't doubt that," Rita sweetly tells him.

"You can tell us. You don't have to feel guilty here," Lynn Sr. assures. "Tell us what happened."

And with that, Lincoln tells everything about Ronnie Anne and how he end up as a prodigal son.


	35. Messy Epilogue 5: The Poignancy

_Years later…January 31, 2026_

After taking him in, Mr. and Mrs. Loud welcome their prodigal son with the food they prepared.

"Here. Have some raisin cookies," Rita offers to her son.

Lincoln then grabs two from the tray.

"And here. Something to wash those cookies to your stomach," Lynn Sr. offers him a glass of all-natural lemonade drink.

Lincoln takes a gulp to ease his breath. He is so grateful that his parents still went to the lengths of showing hospitality to their son. But he has yet to get how much they missed him.

"This is good," Lincoln compliments his mom for the cookies.

"Awww thanks," Rita replies. "Though don't forget to brush your teeth after. You don't want cavities before dinner."

Lynn Sr. and Rita watch their son chow down on some cookies and gulp the juice, contemplating how much their son was absent from their watch for a long time.

Rita cannot help but break down in tears. She then clutches to her husband's shoulder, not wanting Lincoln to grow concerned.

But he is. "Mom?"

"She's just fine, buddy," Lynn Sr. answers. "But…"

She immediately embraces her son, even with the cookies in his hand. "Oh Lincoln!"

"Mom!"

"Just let your mom embrace her son."

Lincoln just lets her arms wrap around him. But finally, he realizes the gravity of the moment that he embraces her as well.

"Don't you dare leave us again without a trace!"

"I'm sorry, Mom."

Lynn Sr. interferes, "Your mom and I have been worried for so long, Lincoln. Tell us where you've been. We know we see your posts but personally, we never heard from you."

From that point, Lincoln feels the emotional corner that he is facing. He has no choice but to explain and express everything to his loved ones. With a sigh, he replies, "It's a long story. Been traveling for gigs. And if not, I got into telemarketing."

"Was that why you got the Pagani?" his father asks.

"That was a gift. It was unused and devalued by price. So it was given to me cheaply," Lincoln explains. "But that's beside the point."

Rita then expresses her grief to her son. "Your sister Lily has been worried about you. She kept asking, 'Where's big brother? Where's big brother?' until she pleads you to drop by. And here you are. Don't dare leave us."

"I won't, mom. Never."

"Good. Now later, you explain to yourself to your sisters. They've been asking where you are. And they told me you never replied back to them."

"Yeah about that…"

"About what?"

"There's something I have to tell you."

"What is it?"

At the top of his breath, he spills the beans of how he ended up as a prodigal child to the Loud family. It is truly heavy to Lincoln that he wishes to let this moment pass and never recall it ever again. But he treasures the comfort from his very own parents.

Later that evening, while the sisters are busy chatting to each other from months or years of separation, a ring comes on the door.

"I'll get it." The twenty-something Lynn Jr. answers the door slackly, to reveal it is none other than the eldest of the bunch, Lori Loud. And she is not alone, as she brings her 11-months-old baby boy with her on her arms.

"LORI!" The sisters joyously welcome her with open arms. Leni, most of all, clings to her sister and kisses her around. Though, they are more drawn to her infant child, who had fallen asleep on her flight to Royal Woods.

"WHY SHE'S SO CUTE!"

"Guys, easy. She got tired on our flight," Lori insists. She then gives the baby to her more responsible sister Luan while she brings out her stroller.

The sisters keep cuddling the baby.

"Isn't she the cutest!" Lola squirms.

"I bet she'll be a cute bottom feeder when she grows up!" Lana expresses.

"Oh anything but that, Lana," Lori replies. "Where's mom and dad?"

"They're in the kitchen, sis," Lynn Jr. answers. "They're like locked up there or something. Dad maybe is too serious about his cooking."

But with that cue, Lynn Sr. bursts through the door with a platter on his hand. "Who's up for dinner?"

"YES!" some of the sisters scream, regardless of their age.

Lori greets her dad with a kiss, "Hi dad!"

"Nice to see you again, sweetie," Lynn Sr. replies. "It has been a while."

"It was like literally a month before," she recalls.

"Oh. Well it's nice to see you."

Rita also arrives from the kitchen with a soup cauldron in her hands. "Alright kids, I still can call you kids! Gather around the table. We're about to start dinner!"

Lori also greets her, "Hey mom!"

"Hey! How's the flight?"

"Oh. Little bit of turbulence but we're good."

"How's Abe?"

"He's fine. He fell asleep while we waited for an Uber." (In case for those who did not catch it, Abe or Abraham is the name of Lori's infant son. Maybe you might get the meaning behind it.)

"Good. We still have the baby stool store in the attic. We can use it." Before she goes, Rita hints to her, "By the way, there's a little surprise for you in the kitchen."

"What is it?"

"Just check it out."

Out of curiosity, Lori walks to the kitchen to see no one but her sole brother Lincoln with a glass of lemonade sitting by a chair near the sink. Her utmost excited mood evolves away from where her happiness was.

On the other hand, Lincoln feels the guilt inside, emancipated the heat that resurfaces to his chest and to his hands. He just grasps on the glass like the guilty person he thinks of himself. He could only utter, "Hey…"

"Hey?" Lori replies.

Lincoln just sighs for the moment as he chugs down his drink. Finally, he is ready. "Look Lori, I know what I did. What I did before is…"

Before he can finish, Lori embraces her brother. It was not until she finally breaks down in tears. "I missed you."

Hearing her cry, Lincoln clutches to her tightly to comfort her. He always knew that he became apathetic towards his family after feeling guilty from the way he broke a girl's heart and wanted to escape from that reality. But now, he feels the ultimate gravity of his actions. "I am sorry, Lori. I really am sorry."

But she admits, "No, we are sorry. We literally did not get a chance to understand you. We should have not condemned you for your mistake, especially me. I do not have a right to judge you."

Lincoln embraces her tightly as tears roll down on Lori's eyes. He wants to cry as well but he remains strong for the duration.

"But you shouldn't have left us like that."

This becomes a pivotal moment where Lincoln finally expresses the thoughts that he kept for years. "How shouldn't I? My fear is that you will just judge me more when I deliberately left Ronnie Anne 'cause I don't feel like we both must continue our relationship. I mean you supported so much that I don't know how to explain it to you when I got scared of committing. I know. We are so in the moment that we know for sure that we are meant to be. But…I don't know. I just want to make things perfect. And I feel at that time I wasn't the perfect man to become hers. I was reckless. So, I left her. Then left everything. And look what happened." Lincoln breaks down. His guilt consumes him internally. The thoughts from the past return to haunt him and pull him down. He would sorely want to redefine the past if he wanted to. But now, he feels that he is accountable to his iniquities.

Lori knows she learned enough from her dearest brother. She stands even as tears fall from her eyes. With a huff on her breath, she tells him, "Lincoln, you know from the time you and the other girl…who was it…just whoever her name was. When you two entered a relationship, I knew it was trouble. But it didn't work out, so you went back with Ronnie Anne in college. But then I realized you were confused. You weren't sure who you must pursue. You literally got caught between a rock and a hard place…"

"Okay, I see your point, Lori," Lincoln reacts.

But Lori insists to continue. "The point is, Lincoln, life is full of ups and downs and disarrays. And there's no absolute recipe to be the perfect guy. Just spend those moments perfectly. But when it comes to the ones you love, you don't leave them astray, even if you can't be perfect around them. You don't have to be perfect around us because we don't need perfection. All we want is for each other to watch each other's backs. Isn't that what we lived for, huh Lincoln?!"

Lily suddenly enters the room, having overheard Lori vent towards Lincoln. Spotting the two, she realizes what was going on. "Oh, was I…?"

"No, it's fine, Lily. We were just talking," Lori assures.

Lily pleads to her eldest sister, "Lori, please don't get mad at Linky. I brought you all here so you can forgive each other. Please? I don't want to see him gone again."

Lincoln is touched by her sister's words. "Come here, Lily." As she approaches him, he embraces her.

"Lincoln, what I am trying to say is yes, I'll be angry personally because you know…But deeply, I realized this. You have the say to anything you want to do in life. And I can't condemn you for that. So, Lincoln, I forgive you. It's okay."

Just those two words makes his entire world still. "I forgive you." Lori rarely tells this to anyone of them. But to him, it is a sense of relief.

"Lori…" In return, he embraces her, with Lily clutching in on the side.

For a solid minute, Lincoln looks back at his past mistakes no more, and his guilt has been revoked. "Thank you."

"You know, I've been praying for this moment," she replies tenderly. "Anytime, little brother."

After that moment of reconciliation, Lily overjoys, "Yes! Finally little brother is saved!" She then clings towards Lincoln's neck, much to his delight.

"Okay, Lily, easy," Lincoln insists.

Lori just chuckles at them both.

"Hang on." Lincoln then lifts up Lily to his shoulders.

"Yey! Piggy back!"

"Having fun?"

"Yey! Linky!" Lily seizes this moment of fun with her big brother.

However, in the midst of the nostalgia, Lincoln brings up to his older sister, "Lori, by the way, there's this elementary school reunion tomorrow night. So, you know. She might…"

Lori confidently tells him, "It's good."

"What?"

"It's good. It's your choice. If you want to get back to her, good. But be responsible for it or else. You know Bobby. But if not, it's fine. You're an adult now."

At that assurance, Lincoln smiles at her.


	36. Messy Epilogue 6: The Finale

_Years later…January 31, 2026_

After that long pep talk, Lori and Lincoln (carrying Lily on his back) step out of the kitchen and in to the dining room. Lori serves the main course for the dinner: a Mediterranean-style turkey.

The rest of the sisters have already assembled in the dining room, doing their usual business while escalating it to ruckus, just like the good old days. Leni is doing funny faces at Abe. Luna is still on her headphones, listening music from her phone and ignoring the rest. Luan and Benny are throwing food puns at each other. Lynn Jr. and Lucy arm-wrestle on the table. Lana feeds her iguana first. Lola keeps rambling about the updates she gathered from her phone. And Lisa is too focused on reading her physics book. Meanwhile, Lynn Sr. and Rita retrieve a wine glasses and red wine, respectively, for the occasion.

The family patriarch spots Lincoln and Lori having finished their talk. This prompts him to pour champagne in his glass and catch everyone's attention with tapping it. "Family, settle down now. Settle down."

At that sound, the sisters rowdily go back to their seats, and Lori places the turkey to the center of the table, much to everyone's amusement. "Oooohhh…"

"Family, settle down," Lynn Sr. tells them all. "Good. Now, I just want to give a toast to the reason why we are all here. Lily, can you come here?"

With that, Lily gets down from Lincoln's arms and approaches her dad.

"Now, I know it may be hard for sweet Lily to gather you for this occasion, even though it's just celebrating her spelling bee victory. But still, she made an effort to bring you all together once more. So, here's to Lily!"

While the younger sister are stuck with iced tea on their wine glasses, the older members of the family lift their glasses filled with red wine and toast for Lily. "To Lily!"

Lily then takes the center stage. "Also guys, before I say anything, thank you all. But besides my spelling bee win, I just want to say that most of all, I'm happy that Lincoln got home finally after a long, long time."

As his younger sister acknowledges him, Lincoln leans to the wall, uneasy with the welcome.

"We missed you, big brother. And we're so happy to see you." Lily then embraces Lincoln as part of her gratefulness towards him. "To Lincoln!"

"To Lincoln!" Only Lynn Sr., Rita, Lori and Lana give a toast to him.

"Come on, Linky! Say something," Lily encourages him.

"It's okay, Lily. I'm good," Lincoln replies.

"Come on, big brother! You came all this way Speech!"

"Lily, I'm okay with this. Let's just eat…"

"We won't eat unless you do speech! Come on!"

After so much insistence, Lincoln finally gives in. "Alright, alright. For you." He then takes the spotlight near his father's chair on the table. He tries to come up with words to say to his family. His hands are shaking, and his head is zoning out briefly from reality. He quickly looks back to himself: with whatever that lead him to this point, from his family and friends, he could only be grateful for them for making him go this far in his life.

He finally has his words to say: "Okay, so, thanks to Lily for keeping on inviting me. It was…hard to get on my own feet and then get back on it, again. But I could not help it. But then again, I was too stubborn to understand from my own mistakes. And I failed to realize how important all of you are. Back then, I loved you all. But later then, I was disillusioned. So, I'm sorry for everything, guys. I'm sorry for not getting back to you, or making myself visible to you all. Now, if anyone wants to accept my apology, you just tell that to me. I don't expect any of you to forgive me. But…"

Upon saying that, Luna suddenly interrupts him, dropping her headphones and her phone in the process. "Just shut up bro and come here!" She then grabs his shoulders and embrace him.

Lincoln is surprised that his rocker sister, whom he observed to be rather hardcore and tough in her adulthood, embraces him wholly at this moment. "Luna, I…"

"I'm sorry too."

Hearing those words, Lincoln's heart softens. His arms could wrap around his older sister to express his care for her.

Lori approaches them both and embraces them.

Lily cannot help but feel so emotional, seeing her brother making amends with her sisters. Seizing the moment, she comes between them and share them a hug. "My brother and sisters are back again! Such a dream come true!"

The three of them just chuckle over Lily's childhood innocence. They pull her in.

Lana also joins in. "Oh well, might as well get into it."

"Me too," Luan follows.

"A group hug! Yey!" Leni cheers on and leaps over them, much to their shock. Nevertheless, they let her join in their embrace.

Lynn Jr. then bugs her former roommate/younger sister Lucy. "Hey Luce, $50 says if you have the guts to say you like hugs."

"You know I'm not much a hugger, you know," Lucy replies.

"Well, if you need to be tough, you have to know how to hug."

"You mean how you hug your opponents, then slam them to the ground?"

"Yep!"

Lincoln then drags them to the group. "Come on guys! Join in!"

Lola eventually complies. "Might as well not get left behind from the bandwagon. You Lisa?"

Lisa condescendingly replies, "Negative. I perceive close human embraces as toxic, contrary to what current psychological studies dictate."

Leni then pops in. "You're just so negative, you two." She then drags them both to the pack.

Even with her intelligence, Lisa soon feels comfortable with the group hug. "Well, I could get used to this all day."

Lily finally tells to her one and only brother, "Lincoln, thank you for making it back. We missed you."

"Us too!" the rest of the sisters agree.

"Thanks guys!" he expresses his gratitude for this one beloved moment that he will store in his heart forever.

An overly emotional Lynn Sr. and Rita captures this moment in a photo.

* * *

 _Years later…February 1, 2026_

On that very night of the reunion, Lincoln walks away with Paige. However, as they step away further from the vicinity, Lincoln stumbles upon a good view overlooking the homecoming reunion. "Kind of amazing, ain't it?"

"What?" Paige utters.

"The view. I just kind of like it," Lincoln expresses. "You know, when you're a photographer, you have to seize every good view before you capture it in your camera."

Paige understands Lincoln's point. "Yeah, I see."

Lincoln then squats to the ground, expressing his artistic perception to Paige. "You know the contrast of something grand looks smaller in comparison to the darker parts surrounding the party? That kind of feeling…it's just breathtaking."

"I see you learned a lot in photography when you left Royal Woods."

"I did. It took a while to be an actual expert."

Paige is also one of the people affected by Lincoln's eventual absence in Royal Woods. Thus, she experienced the fallout of losing contact from Lincoln. She only expressed this to a few of her peers. But in the end, she kept that burden. That burden is being lifted now.

"I really missed you…"

Lincoln is enamored by her words that he smiles secretly at her. "Me too. Missed you too."

The two just exchange smiles that light up the dark terrain that they find themselves in. Out of their post-grad youth, they still feel the innocence of puppy love from each other.

"Say Paige, I know this is abrupt, but can we stay for a little while? I kind of want to dance…"

She then quickly takes his hand and drags him back to the reunion grounds towards the floor. "That's the spirit! Let's go!"

Right on time, the DJ begins to play "YMCA" by the Village People, which majority of the guests still recognize. "Party people, still remember this jam? Better ready your arms and your bodies!"

"Is he playing…?" Rusty asks the gang.

As the song plays, many of the guest return to the dance floor and dance along.

"Oh yeah! This my jam!" Liam expresses.

"I kind of got fed up of this song," Rusty reacts.

"Come on, Rusty! You still like to dance for the ladies!" Clyde insists, dragging Rusty in the process.

The song is at its chorus: " _It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A./It's fun to stay at the Y.M.C.A._ "

Lincoln and Paige arrive just in time for the rest to do the dance's signature moves. The atmosphere is infectious, and even those staying at the sides tap to the beat. They try to squeeze in to the crowd but end up separated.

"Paige, are you…?"

"Meet me at the middle of the dance floor."

"Got it!"

After Paige moves to the side, Lincoln try to find his way out of the crowd. Yet he encounters Clyde and company.

"Dudes!"

"Lincoln! My man!" Clyde greets him with a fist pump. "What you still doing here? I thought you're off with Paige."

"We were. We just want to stick around for a while," Lincoln answers.

"Well, stick around, buddy!"

The crowd yells "Woohoo!"

Sooner the gang moves to the center of the dance floor. Lincoln never expects this, but at least he does not need to squeeze his way there.

But as he moves backwards, he suddenly bumps on somebody. "Sorry!" He looks behind to see one of the loves of his life, Ronnie Anne Santiago. "Ronnie…Anne…"

"Lincoln…"

The two just look at each other, speechless after all these years as the crowd continues to jam until the next song. Their worlds stop as they catch each other on the eye. It is breathless.

"I…"

"I…"

"It's good…You're here…"

"Yeah. Uhmmm…you too…"

"Look Ronnie Anne…"

Their speechlessness gets interrupted when the DJ suddenly plays "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey. The crowd goes wild, but the two are still.

Unable to keep up with his words, he just randomly says, "I still love this song."

"Yeah still good. Love it," Ronnie Anne agrees.

Lincoln is just overwhelmed with how she reacts. He cannot help but lay a perfect beam on his face.

A shyer and blushing Ronnie Anne tries to keep her emotions to herself. But the song is too powerful for her to hold it. She knows that even though after all he had done, she still loves him.

Likewise, deep inside of Lincoln, he still loves her.

And in that moment, they share one glorifying and emotional bond that lasted for the entire night.

* * *

 _Tomorrow…February 2, 2026_

Lori is the first to get up among her family. She walks downstairs to the kitchen. But upon passing by the living room, she spots her brother in a tuxedo, sleeping on the couch. She shakes his shoulder to wake him. "Lincoln…Lincoln…"

He eventually wakes up. "Lori…what time is it?"

"It's 8. Why?"

"Nothing…just got invited for a wedding. Chaperoning someone."

"Does that explain the suit, wearing it in the morning?"

"The wedding is at lunch."

"Oh. So, who are you chaperoning?"

"Someone special. I think you already liked her before."

"For real, literally? Tell me who it is."

Suddenly, they hear a honk from a car stopped on the side of their house.

"I think that's her," Lincoln assumes. He then looks to the window to confirm. "Yep it is. Gotta go." He then takes his bag and his camera.

"Wait, Lincoln," Lori tells him. She then embraces him. "We're proud of you."

Lincoln wraps his arms around her in return. "Thanks." He then walks out to the door and to the car.

"Here for dinner?"

"I will!"

Lori looks at the window, seeing Lincoln meeting with his special someone. She immediately recognizes the girl that her brother was talking about. Her feeling is anything but disappointed.

The oldest Loud sister then sees him wave back at her, which makes her wave goodbye at him. For the first time, Lori feels happy that Lincoln finally found his special someone as they ride off joyfully.

 _THE END_


End file.
